Box Score
MORRIS, MN – The Comets ventured down to Morris, MN on Tuesday night to compete against the UM-Morris Cougars for another go-around, this time in Cougar territory. The Comet Men's Basketball team played first in the evening, with the women hoping to sweep the Cougars after the men's team pulled away with a victory.
The first quarter proved to be filled with some buckets being traded back and forth. The Comets tied things up at 7 a piece, venturing on a 9-4 run fueled by
Andi Gayner,
Joelle Ertl, and
Cyan Hale to build up a 16-11 lead. Gayner and Ertl continued to open things up for the Comets in the second quarter, as Gayner added another nine to her total and Ertl continued to hit 3's. It was a 22-14 advantage in scoring for the Comets in the second, enroute to a 38-25 lead at the half. Gayner led the effort for the Comets with 14 points in the game at the break.
After halftime, the Cougars started off on a quick 9-3 run in the early minutes, causing Coach Hutter to take a quick time out for readjustments. Some sharp shooting from Ertl and
Taylor Shamp kept the Comets ahead in the quarter, despite being outscored by three points from the Cougars aggressive scoring drive. The Comets went into the 4th quarter with a 10-point lead, 52-42, hoping to come home with the victory with 10 more minutes to play.
The final ten minutes of action was very intense, as the Cougars were battling to close the gap as time ticked away. UM-M increased their pressure on the Comets, chipping away at the Comets' lead. With less than a minute left, the Comets found themselves only up by three at 65-62. With the Cougars on the verge of comeback, MSU was able to come out of a late timeout and get the ball in
Joelle Ertl's hands. A free throw by Ertl with 16 seconds left lifted the lead to four, UM-M wasn't able to hit a desperation three at the end, and the Comets were able to breathe a sigh of relief and escape with the win, 66-62, to reach a record of 7-1 on the season so far. Ertl's 25-point effort on the night was fueled by her 8-point surge in the final quarter, along with Gayner,
Karleigh Weber and
Claire Blascziek adding to the mix late in the game for the Comets.
Coach Hutter felt it was a solid road win for the team: "We played well at times and we struggled at times. We discussed that in order to be a good team, you have to win on nights you don't play well. I'm proud of our team and the fact they found a way to win on the road in a tough environment."
Leading scorers on the night were
Joelle Ertl for the Comets and Maureen Theisen for the Cougars, each with 25. Ertl had six three-pointers as a part of that total effort, shooting 6-14 from downtown.
Andi Gayner contributed a solid 16 points and led the team in boards with eight.
Taylor Shamp had eight points, as well, while going 4-4 from the floor. Despite losing the battle on the boards 51 to 32, the Comets kept turnovers low with 11 to the Cougars' 22. The Comets nailed 10-31 on 3's for the night, They were also able to capitalize on 11 steals.
Next up for the #16 Lady Comets will be back-to-back home games to open up NSAA conference play. Friday's game will be against Presentation College at 5:30pm, followed by Saturday's game at 3pm versus the University of Jamestown.
