Bruins grind out 60-50 road win at VCSU

VALLEY CITY, N.D. -- The Bellevue University women's basketball team overcame a 34% shooting effort by making 22-27 free throw attempts and pulled away in the fourth quarter to defeat Valley City State University 60-50 in North Star Athletic Association action on Friday evening.

With the victory, BU improve to 12-9 on the year and 4-5 in NSAA play to move into a tie for third place with Mayville State University, whom they face tomorrow.

The loss snaps a modest two-game win streak for VCSU as the Vikings slide to 11-10 overall and 3-6 in North Star play.

Just one field goal was made in the first 3:48 before Ellie Braaten recorded Valley City's first at the 6:12 mark of the first quarter to cut an early BU lead to one at 5-4. Brandi Dunn responded by knocking down a corner three and Kaylee Denker sank a pair of free throws as the Bruins stretched the lead to six points with 4:52 left in the opening quarter which was quickly erased by a 7-0 spurt from the host Vikings.

Zakiyyah Muhammad stemmed the momentum with a bucket and Dru Zoucha knocked down a trifecta to put the Bruins in front 15-11. VCSU cut the deficit to two before Muhammad scored in transition to give BU a 17-13 lead through one quarter of play.

Trailing by seven, 21-14, Valley City rattled off an 11-1 run, capped by backdoor cut by Madison Spacher to give VCSU a 25-22 lead with 2:23 to play. The lead was short-lived as BU answered with a 9-1 run off their own to close the half.

With the score tied at 27-all, Gabby Moore hit a turnaround jumper in the pain. Josias Mickens forced a steal, tying up Olivia Backus with _ seconds left in the half and dished to Denker on a drive for an easy lay-in. Ashtyn Arnold blocked a shot from Diemert at the buzzer as the Bruins took a 31-27 lead into the break.

Both teams struggled from the field in the first half with Bellevue shooting 36% to the Vikings' 29% effort. The Bruins were 3-10 from deep but hit 10-13 free throws. VCSU was 1-9 beyond the arc and 6-7 at the line. BU survived nine first half turnovers, limiting the Vikings to just six points off those turnovers.

Valley City engineered and elongated 8-2 run out of halftime, taking a 35-33 lead on a layup from JayCee Richter with 6:02 to play. Arnold answered at the other end for BU with a basket and Denker put the Bruins back on tap with a tough move at the 4:35 mark.

A layup from Tilda Mauritzson was the only disruption in a 9-2 Bruin run that Danielle Coyer's three-pointer ended to give the Bruins a 42-37 lead with 2:22 to play. Richter got a bucket back for the Vikings and Coyer sank a free throw for the final point of the quarter at the 1:28 mark and BU held a 43-39 lead after three quarters of play.

Elise Hebrink scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter to pull the Vikings within a single possession. VCSU held BU scoreless for the first 4:14 of the fourth quarter before Mickens hit a pull-up three for her first field goal of the game. One possession later, Dunn drove the lane and drew a foul before stepping to the charity stripe to sink a pair of free throws.

Bellevue got a defensive stop after a VCSU timeout and five-straight from Denker, including a step back three on a broken play and a quick give-and-go, gave the Bruins their largest lead of the game at 53-41.

The Vikings answered with a 5-0 spurt of their own before a foul on Arnold saw the Bruin senior sink two more free throws for a 55-46 lead with just 1:35 to play. BU hit 7-8 free throws in the final 95 seconds to seal the victory.

Denker came off the bench to score 13 points and pull down 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the year and third of her career. She was joined in double figures by Arnold who hauled down six rebounds of her own. Dunn, Moore, Muhammad, and Coyer went for seven apiece in the win.

Diemert, the reigning-NSAA Offensive Player of the Week, was the lone Viking in double figures, scoring 10 but on just 4-13 shooting. Bellevue limited her to just one three-point field goal attempt, a miss, after going 11-11 from beyond the arc last week. Abby Aslesen scored six points and grabbed eight boards. Richter and Olivia Backus scored eight apiece in the loss while Braaten led the Vikings with nine rebounds.

The 50 points from the Vikings are the fewest the Bruins have allowed in NSAA play this season and the BU's best defensive scoring effort in a conference game since limiting Presentation College to just 45 points on Jan. 13, 2023.

BU edged Valley City from the floor 34% to 32% and made 6-17 threes while holding the Vikings to just 1-16 from deep. Both teams shot above 80% from the line with the Bruins getting to the stripe 19 more times than their hosts.

The Bruins are back in action tomorrow with a 3 p.m. tip at (RV) Mayville State University.