The Missouri Valley Vikings women’s basketball team is officially back in the win column following their 71-60 victory Tuesday, Dec. 17 at Clarke University in Iowa.

Ylenia Exposito and Ricarda Schott combined to score the first 14 points for Valley as the Vikings jumped out to a 19-12 lead, maintaining the momentum from Saturday’s exhibition win at Rockhurst. A pair of three pointers in the second quarter helped to keep the Vikings ahead, even as they went cold from the field in the third quarter before picking the pace back up in the final term. Schott finished the game with 30 points, while Rajone Callahan added 15. Exposito posted another double-double with 10 points and ten defensive rebounds. Zoe Kennedy led Clarke with 21 points, while Hailey Walter chipped in 16. Maci Kuchta claimed 11 defensive repounds for the Pride. With the win, the women are now 9-3 overall, including a 6-3 mark in conference play.

Meanwhile, the Viking men struggled in the first half against Clarke, before staging a comeback effort that fell short 92-85. MoValley began their game trading the lead with Clarke, but a Pride timeout nearly nine minutes into the game helped to spark a pair of runs that stymied the Viking offense. Clarke followed a 13-4 run with 12 consecutive points, as the Vikings only recorded seven points in the final five minutes of the half to trail 45-29. The Vikings outscored Clark 56-47 in the second half, including 57 percent from three-point range. A Keenan Jones layup with 2:42 remaining brought the Vikings to within one, but Valley were unable to knot the game up.

Jones finished the game with 30 points while Cawhan Smith added 21. Five Clarke players were in double figures, led by Carson Lindauer, who came off the bench to score 22. The Vikings fall to 3-10 overall, including 2-7 in Heart of America play.