BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Senior Elexis Martinez scored 19 points to lead the Bellevue University women's basketball team to a 78-55 victory over visiting Valley City State University Friday night in North Star Athletic Association action at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
With the win, the Bruins improved to 12-15 on the season and 5-7 in the NSAA. VCSU fell to 9-13 overall and 6-6 in league play.
Martinez finished 8-of-11 from the field while adding three rebounds in the win.
Faith Ross finished with12 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Delaney VanBlaricon chipped in with eight points and six boards.
Ashlyn Diemert paced the Vikings with 17 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Allie Negen and Adriana Torres scored 11 points apiece.
After the Bruins scored the first nine points of the contest, VCSU answered with an eight-point run, capped by a 3-pointer from Ashlyn Diemert, to make it 9-8 with four minutes left in the first quarter.
BU responded with six-consecutive points, including four from Ashtyn Arnold to give BU a 15-8 advantage after the opening 10 minutes of play.
After Diemert opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to four points, the Bruins went on a 12-2 run sparked by a pair of 3-pointers from Miranda Hennings to give BU a 27-13 lead with 6:34 remaining before halftime.
The Bruins went on a 14-1 run over the next four minutes before VCSU scored the final four points of the half to make it 41-20 at the intermission.
Martinez led BU in the first half with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while adding two rebounds.
The Bruins shot 51.6 percent from the field in the opening half while holding the Vikings to a 22.2 percent shooting clip.
Diemert paced VCSU in the first half with nine points and a pair of boards.
After a 3-pointer by Diemert brought the Vikings to within 18 points, a 12-3 BU run pushed the margin to 27 points (55-28) with 6:52 left in the third frame.
Four-straight points from Aminah Hall gave BU a 31-point cushion at 64-33 with two minutes remaining in the third before BU took a 70-37 margin heading into the final stanza.
VCSU scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to trim the deficit to 23 points and got as close as 22 points following a free throw by Torres before BU cruised to the 78-55 victory.
The Bruins will host Dickinson State University at 3 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 12) in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
