Box Score

SIOUX CITY, IA – The Comets wrapped up their second game of the Briar Cliff Holiday Classic against the host team, Briar Cliff University, on Saturday night. After a tough loss to #6 Morningside the previous day, MSU was looking to finish their trip on a strong note.

In the first quarter of play, the key impact players for the Comets were Naomi Torgerson and Karleigh Weber, who combined for 17 of the 21 points the Comets put on the board. Weber drained three long-range shots right away in the first three minutes to help set a tone for the team. Torgerson was all over the floor to get scores as the Comets held a 21-15 edge at the end of the first, despite a last second three by the Chargers.

The second quarter was more evenly matched, scoring-wise, as the Comets grew their lead by as much as ten points when it reached 29-19, and also up to an 11-point lead after a Joelle Ertl 3-pointer to lift them up 42-31. Fouls by the Comets in the final few minutes of the half turned into the Chargers cutting the lead with six more free throws, leaving the score 44-37 at the half. Torgerson led the Comets with 14, followed by Weber hitting one more 3 to have twelve at that point in the game. 

The Comets were able to build their lead in the third quarter while keeping the pressure up on the Chargers. Claire Blascziek helped the team jump out to a 10-point lead with a 3-pointer to start things up. The Chargers narrowed the gap to only being down by four at 49-45, but a key surge of points by Kylee Heurung in the final minutes of the third helped lift the lead to 13 with the Comets up 63-50.

The full court pressure continued and the Comets kept scoring at a steady rate to finish off the game strong. Blascziek mimicked her third quarter start with another 3 to begin the fourth quarter for the Comets, building the lead to 16 and giving the team a good cushion. The press delivered more turnovers and conversions into buckets for the Comets, never letting the lead get less than 14 and finishing the game by taking home the win, 81-64. 

Coach Dennis Hutter was proud of the effort, despite the temporary setback of having key performer Andi Gayner out for the night due to illness. "It was an unbelievable team effort tonight. All the players stepped up with Andi out of the lineup tonight. We really played well in the full court defensively and also shot the ball well. We had a good team response after yesterday's game."

Leading the Comets was Naomi Torgerson with 20 points, followed by Karleigh Weber and Claire Blascziek with 15 each, and Kylee Heurung with eleven. Heurung had a double-double night with a team-leading 14 rebounds. Eight Comets in all scored for the team. The Comets had 18 steals on the night, with Blascziek leading with five of them. Rebounding was also a big edge in the second half for the Comets, as they had 23 in the half, 36 overall. The team shot nearly 40% from the field, nearly identical on 3's as well at 38%. Weber was 5-9 on them, while Blascziek was 3-5. 

Next up for the #23 Lady Comets (11-4, 3-2 NSAA) will be NSAA conference action back at home on Friday, January 5th against Viterbo University. Game time is 5:30 pm.