The women's basketball team won an exciting down to the wire contest Tuesday night at the W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse knocking off University of Minnesota, Crookston by a score of 82-80.

In the first half, the Vikings scored 42 points on 11-33 shooting. Leading scorer for both teams in the first half was Emily Goedert. Goedert scored 10 points off the bench in 13 minutes of play. Abby Rittenhouse and Brittany Olson both scored eight points towards the cause. The Vikings shot 6-12 in the first half from behind the three point arc.

Defense marked the name of the game for the Golden Eagles in the first half. UMC owned the first paint in the first half out rebounding the Vikings 30-22 while posting six blocks. Kim Grant picked up three blocks in seven minutes of play. The first half scoring leader for the Golden Eagles was Kim Grant who picked up nine points and five rebounds.

The Vikings looked to put UMC away early when the posted a 28-14 lead on a free throw by Andrea Hummel at the 8:31 mark. The Golden Eagles used an 11-1 run over the next four minutes to cut the VCSU lead to four. The two teams would trade baskets going into half with VCSU leading 42-38.

The second half for both teams was marked by intensity and pressure. The teams forced each other into 17 turnovers for the game. However, the Vikings decidedly held the advantage for the game in points off of turnovers 24-12 over the Golden Eagles. UMC used a 38-18 advantage in the paint to counter VCSU's scoring off of turnovers.

For the first time this season the Vikings boasted a truly balanced scoring attack with five players in double digit scoring. Leading the way was Caitlyn Wojahn scoring 16 points including the final two points of the game sinking two clutch free throws with 3.3 seconds remaining on the clock. Abby Rittenhouse and Emily Goedert both added 15 points. Amanda Brown played a tough game all around scoring 10 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and had four assists.

Crookston go to player Jamie Zelinsky came up big in the second half ending the game with 19 points after scoring just 7 in the first half. Recording the only double-double, Bri Zabel added 18 points and 10 rebounds in 35 minutes of play.

With the win the Vikings improve to 3-5 overall while University of Minnesota, Crookston drops to 2-1 on the season. The Vikings will be back in action Saturday when they host William Penn in non-conference action with a 1:00 pm tipoff time.