North Star Athletic Association Men’s Basketball Player-of-the-Week
Jalen Addison – Valley City State (N.D.) – 6’2″ – Senior – guard – Milwaukee, Wis. – Addison led all scorers with a season-high 24 points and posted a game-high seven rebounds in Valley City State (N.D.) 78-69 regular-season finale victory at Dickinson State (N.D.). He was 9-of-17 from the field (52.9 percent), including 3-of-5 3-pointers (60 percent). Addison converted 3-of-5 free-throws. He also recorded a steal and an assist in the game.
Recap from last week’s games
Bellevue (Neb.) secured the No. 2 seed in the postseason tournament after using a second-half surge to defeat Dakota state (S.D.) 73-62 on Feb. 18. The Bruins improved to 17-13 overall record and 9-5 record in the North Star conference contests. The Trojans dropped to 9-14 overall record and 7-7 NSAA conference record.
MADISON, S.D. – The North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) announced its second installment of the softball Players-of the-Week Monday. Valley City State (N.D.) swept the weekly honors for the second straight week. Emily Smith was selected as the Pitcher-of-the-Week, while her teammate Sierra Crocker was chosen as the Player-of-the-Week.
North Star Athletic Association Softball Pitcher-of-the-Week
Emily Smith – Valley City State (N.D.) – 5’7” – Senior – pitcher – La Prairie, Manitoba, Canada – Smith went 2-0 record for the week in the pitching circle as Valley City State (N.D.) went 3-1 record in the PC Dome Classic. She did not allow a run and struck out 25 batters in 11 innings. In Saturday’s win against Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.), Smith recorded 14 out of the 15 outs by strikeout. She totaled 25 strikeouts in the tournament, including nine strikeouts in VCSU’s 6-0 shutout against Jamestown (N.D.).
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Feb 20, 2021 1:25 PM
MADISON, S.D. – Mayville State collected the North Star Athletic Association men’s basketball regular season title outright with an overall record of 13-4 and 10-3 record in league play. The Comets had won the previous three NSAA men’s basketball postseason tournaments.
Bellevue (17-13 overall record) and Valley City State (18-6 overall record) both finished tied for second place in the conference standings with 9-5 record each. The Bruins own the tiebreaker by sweeping the season series with the Vikings, securing the No. 2 seed in the postseason tournament. VCSU will be the No. 3 seed.
North Star Athletic Association Women’s Basketball Player-of-the-Week
Maara Nelson – Valley City State (N.D.) – 5’9″ – Senior – guard – Carrington, N.D. – Nelson matched her career-high, scoring 20 points to leading Valley City State (N.D.) to a 54-50 home defeat to Bellevue (Neb.). She then topped her career-high with 24 points in an 87-80 high-scoring affair defeat to No. 17-ranked Dakota State (S.D.). Nelson averaged 22.0 points (44 total points), 6.0 rebounds (12 rebounds), 2.0 steals (4 steals), 1.5 assists (3 assists) for the week. She was 16-of-33 from the field (48.5 percent) and converted 10-of-13 from the free-throw line (76.9 percent).
Recap from last week’s games
No. 17-ranked Dakota State (S.D.) secured the North Star Athletic Association women’s basketball title after going 2-0 record on the road last weekend. The Trojans extended their historic 17-game winning streak, defeating Dickinson State (N.D.) 81-67 on Feb. 12 and Valley City S
MADISON, S.D. (playnorthstar.com) – Valley City State University seniors Joelle Aiello and Emily Smith were honored by the North Star Athletic Association on Monday after helping lead the Viking softball team to a 3-1 record this past week.
Emily Smith was selected as the NSAA Pitcher of the Week, while Joelle Aiello was chosen as the Player of the Week.
Aiello batted .357 with a .929 slugging percentage over four games this weekend. She collected a double, two triples and her first career home run. She also scored four runs and drove in four – playing a key role in eight of VCSU’s 13 runs on the weekend. Defensively, Aiello was perfect in 13 chances in the middle-infield positions.