From VCSU Athletics 

MADISON, S.D. (VCSUAthletics.com) – The Dakota State women’s basketball team clinched the North Star Athletic Association regular season title with a 91-57 victory over the Vikings on Saturday afternoon.

The Trojans opened with a big first quarter and six 3-pointers to build a 33-14 early lead. The Vikings answered in the second quarter to pull within nine points on a 12-2 run to trail 40-31 with 2:04 left in the quarter, but Dakota State pulled away in the second half to rout the Vikings.

No. 25 Dakota State is now 22-7 overall and 12-1 in the conference. VCSU falls to 9-14 overall and 6-7 in the NSAA. The Vikings sit in a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference standings with one conference game left in the regular season. The top four teams will host an opening round game of the NSAA Tournament on Feb. 22.

Taryn Dieterle posted a game-high 18 points Saturday and went a perfect 6-for-6 on free throws. Ashlyn Diemert chipped in 14 points while Adriana Torres added 14 points and a team-best three assists. Allie Negen grabbed a team-high nine rebounds for VCSU.

The Vikings shot 35 percent from the field (23-65), 15 percent on 3’s (2-13) and 90 percent on free throws (9-10). The Trojans shot 47 percent on field goals (33-71), 37 percent from 3-point range (11-30) and 74 percent from the free throw line (14-19).

Dakota State also forced 24 Viking turnovers that directly led to 42 points for the Trojans. DSU also totaled a season-high 12 blocked shots as a team – including six from Elsie Aslesen.

Three Trojans scored in double figures on Saturday led by Aslesen who posted 15 points. Ashlyn Macdonald added 13 points and 11 rebounds and Jessi Giles scored 11 points.

UP NEXT: VCSU hosts Dickinson State for the regular season finale on Feb. 18. The women will tip at 5:30 p.m. with the men to follow at 7:30 p.m.