NORTH EAST, PA - The Villa Maria Lady Vikings grinded out a hard-fought 54-46 victory over the Mercyhurst North East Saints on Saturday afternoon, getting back on the winning track and moving to 16-6 on the season.

Villa entered the game ranked fifth in the latest United States Collegiate Athletic Association Coaches Poll.  Despite shooting just 34.3 percent from the floor, the Vikings battled through adversity behind 18 points from senior Magan Campbell (Buffalo, NY/Erie Community).  Campbell was one of three Vikings in double-figures as freshman Shaquana Owens (Buffalo, NY/Tapestry) registered a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and junior Tia Onipede (Buffalo, NY/Erie Community) scored 10.

Villa held Mercyhurst to just 26.2 percent shooting and 13.6 percent from beyond the arc.  Jadia Dixon scored a team-high 17 points but took 19 shots to do so.  Villa also forced it's opponent into 27 turnovers.

Freshman Lajanai Thomas (Buffalo, NY/Burgard) came off the bench and provided a much-needed spark for Villa.  She finished with four points, five rebounds and three steals in 23 minutes.

Villa is off for over two weeks before they host the top-ranked USCAA school in the country, the College of Saint Joseph (VT) on Sunday, February 7 at 12 p.m.  The Vikings dropped an earlier season road contest to St. Joe's 71-61 back on December 28.