DICKINSON, N.D. – The Dickinson State University (DSU) women's basketball team suffered a loss to open their NSAA conference schedule on Saturday in heartbreaking fashion. With less than a second left on the game clock, Valley City State University's (VCSU) Taryn Dieterle hit a jumper at the buzzer to give the Vikings the 76-74 win from Scott Gym. With the loss, the Blue Hawks drop to 0-11 overall and 0-1 in North Star play, while the Vikings improve to 4-6 and 1-0 in conference action.

How It Happened –

The Vikings got off to a hot start as they held a six-point advantage through the first quarter of action. Dickinson State responded by outscoring VCSU in the following quarter, 18-16, to cut the Viking lead down to four to round out the first half.

VCSU continued to come out strong as they went on a 10-0 run to open up the second half of play. After both teams went back-and-forth for the majority of the final six minutes of play during the third quarter, Dickinson State started to pour on the offense in the final quarter. With 5:$4 left in the game, the Blue Hawks started to get hot. Shali Sheridan started things off with a pair of free-throws followed by a jumper by Courtney Olson. After a free-throw by VCSU's Adriana Torres, the Hawks hit four three-pointers, with three coming from veteran Ashlie Watts, to cut the Viking lead down to two. The Vikings jumped their lead back up to six with 49 second left until a shot from range by Sheridan to set the score at 71-70. With 27 seconds left, Torres connected with one free-throw to give the Vikings the four-point advantage. However, Sheridan knocked down another bucket for two with 21 seconds left to cut the lead back down to two. After a turnover by the Vikings, Olson drove the lane and got fouled with seven seconds remaining on the clock. The senior stepped up to the line and drained both from the line to even the score at 74-74. However, after a controversial last second call, the Vikings got the ball back and made it count. VCSU's Taryn Dieterle caught the in-bound pass and floated up above two DSU players for the last-second, buzzer beater, for the win.

By the Numbers –

As a team, the Blue Hawks outshot the Vikings in all three categories; 42.4-38.5 percent from the field, 29.0-28.0 from range, and 100-63.3 from the foul-line. DSU added 44 rebounds, 22 assists and eight steals in the loss.

Senior Courtney Olson led the Blue Hawks in scoring with 26 points, followed by Shali Sheridan with 15 and Ashlie Watts with 13. Olson dished out a team-high five assists, while Lauren Baumberger grabbed six boards.

Up Next –

The Blue Hawks will continue their home game stretch against Rocky Mountain College on Wednesday, Dec. 8 at 5:30 p.m. (MT).