BELLEVUE, Neb. -- A hot-shooting and fast-paced first half combined with a balanced scoring attack led by Elexis Martinez gave the Bellevue University women's basketball team a 72-64 victory over Valley City State University Friday night in North Star Athletic Association action at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. Six Bruins scored at least nine points in the win.
The pivotal victory improved the Bruins to 17-10 on the season and 8-3 in the NSAA. VCSU fell to 11-12 overall and 8-4 in league play.
Martinez led the Bruins with 13 points and eight rebounds. Laura Jurek added 10 points and four boards. Brittany Hill produced 10 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists. Jamie Winkler contributed with nine points, six rebounds, three steals, and a pair of assists. Khalilah Holloway chipped in with nine points, five steals, five rebounds, and two blocked shots. Taeha Pankey provided nine points and a team-high four assists in the win.
Macy Kvilvang paced the Vikings with a game-high 18 points while adding five assists, and four rebounds. Mackenzie Huber registered a double-double, finishing with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
The Bruins used an 11-point run to grab an early 19-11 lead with 3:18 left in the first quarter. Led by Jurek's six points, eight different Bruins scored in the opening quarter as BU built a 26-17 advantage. Bellevue shot 55.6 percent in the first quarter, including a 4-of-9 effort from behind the arc.
After BU expanded the lead to 14 points, the Vikings used a 9-2 run to pull to within seven points at 37-30 with 3:20 left before the intermission. The Bruins responded with 12-2 spurt to close the half, taking a 49-32 lead at halftime.
Bellevue outshot VCSU, 52.8 to 38.9 percent, in the first half. Hill led the Bruins with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Holloway added nine points and three rebounds. Jurek finished the first half with eight points, two assists, and a pair of boards.
Kvilvang (11) and Huber (10) combined for 21 points to pace the VCSU offense in the opening 20 minutes.
After the Vikings scored the first five points of the second half to pull to within 12 points, the two teams played evenly the remainder of the third as BU took a 58-43 lead heading into the final stanza.
A 13-4 VCSU run capped by a 3-pointer from Adriana Torres drew the Vikings to within four points at 65-61 with 1:38 remaining in the contest. A layup by Winkler and a free throw by Faith Ross gave BU a 68-61 edge with 24 seconds left in the game. The Vikings missed four 3-point attempts in the final minute as BU secured the 72-64 victory.
The Bruins will host Dickinson State University on Saturday (Feb. 15) at 3 p.m. in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
