VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Valley City State women’s basketball team opened up their 2021-22 season at W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse with an 81-74 win over the University of Minnesota-Morris.

The Vikings got off to a slow start, but were able to stay in the game thanks to junior forward Taryn Dieterle who had no trouble scoring down low. With a three-point lead at the half, VCSU came out red-hot with some crucial three-pointers from senior guard Emma Nielsen. She made three deep-balls in the span of four possessions. This gave the Vikings a 12-point lead and they were able to keep the lead at 10+ for the majority of the second half. However, the Cougars surged back late and cut the lead to six. With UMM closing fast, Nielsen’s number was called again and she nailed a three with 1:12 left to put the game away.

Nielsen tied for the most points on the evening for the Vikings with 19 points on 7-10 shooting and going 5-7 from beyond the arc with seven rebounds. A pair of Vikings got double-doubles with Dieterle scoring 19 points and snagging 13 boards and junior guard Adriana Torres getting 17 points and ten rebounds.

VCSU shot the ball very well shooting 45.7% from the floor and 40% from downtown to pick up their first win of their 2021-22 campaign.

Up next on the schedule is the Sanford Pentagon NAIA Basketball Classic in Sioux Falls, SD. They will play on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. against Dakota Wesleyan followed up by another game Sunday at 12:00 p.m. against Mount Marty University. The Vikings won’t have another game at “The Bubble” until November 23rd.