After leading comfortably in the second half, New Mexico mounted a comeback, but the Vikings stood tall in a 84-77 win over the Thunderbirds to open Region V Tournament play on Wednesday, March 12.

From the opening tip, the game was tightly contested. After trading baskets early and the game tied at 7-7, Grayson scored five straight points as Iv Jackson hit a pair of free throws and Lily Melton connected on a three pointer to jump ahead 12-7 with 3:45 left in the opening frame. The Thunderbirds cut it to one on a pair of jump shots, but Jackson answered right back with a layup to put the Vikings back up by three. New Mexico had another answer, but a jumper from Susan Fahnbulleh put the Vikings up 16-13 at the end of the first quarter. 

A scoreless opening minute of the second quarter quickly evaporated by a 5-0 New Mexico run as they took their first lead since the opening minute of the game; 18-16. Melton answered with a jump shot to tie the game at 18. A 7-0 run by the Thunderbirds helped them gain their largest lead at 25-18, as the Viking offense was scoreless for nearly five minutes. Tay Biglow ended the cold spell with a three to pull the Vikings back within four. New Mexico came right back with a three pointer, but a 6-0 run capped by a Jaycee Ingram layup pulled the Vikings within 28-27. After another New Mexico three, Biglow answered back with another three to pull within 31-30. The Vikings rallied to tie the game at 32 on a jumper by Ingram and she would split a pair of free throws with under a minute to play to put Grayson up 33-32 at the break, as they closed the half on a 12-4 scoring run. 

The start of the third quarter saw New Mexico briefly take the lead on a three from Zarai Lewis, as the Vikings were scoreless for the opening few minutes. Susan Fahnbulleh quickly put the Vikings back in front with five straight points. Later in the quarter, Dree Johnson gave the Vikings their biggest lead at the time with a jumper to pull ahead 48-41. New Mexico responded with a 7-2 scoring run to cut the lead to 50-48, but five straight points by Ingram had the Vikings leading 55-50 at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Vikings opened on a 9-2 run to match their largest lead at seven. That lead quickly grew into a 15 point lead on a layup from Madison Martin to take a 74-59 lead with 4:16 to play. New Mexico responded with a 9-0 run, getting a couple steals off inbounds plays and turning those into points and with 3:00 left it was a 74-68 lead. 
The Vikings responded out of a timeout by hitting some timely baskets and Susan Fahnbulleh going 6-6 from the free throw line down the stretch and the Vikings closed out the win to advance to the semi-finals on Friday. 

Ingram and Fahnbulleh each had 26 points to lead Grayson in scoring. The 26 for Fahnbulleh was a career high, while also adding in six steals. Ingram added eight rebounds, while Biglow had 11 points and five assists. The Vikings shot a season high 95 percent from the free throw line in this one. 

The Vikings took on a familiar foe, as they battled McLennan for the third time on Friday, March 13.