Box Score
VALLEY CITY, ND – The Comets began their weekend conference games on the road at Valley City State in Valley City, ND to take on the Vikings. The 8-2 Comets were squaring off against a hot 8-0 Viking team on their home court, making for an eventful night of action and suspense for the long time in-state rivals.
The Comets got on the board first with two free throws by
Naomi Torgerson, but VCSU soon built their momentum and kept the Comets from getting their first field goal after the first 5 minutes of the game. The Vikings' Lexi Lennon was tough to contain as well in the first few minutes, scoring 11 of the Vikings' first 22 points.
They extended their lead to 17 at one point, with the Comets closing the gap a little to being down by 15 at the end of the first quarter, 19-34. The Comets were able to turn down the Vikings offense in the 2nd quarter, allowing them to only score 15 points as they turned it up with 22 of their own. Leading that drive was
Kylee Heurung, who added seven straight points to close the gap 27-38 when VCSU called a time out with 6:49 to play in the rest of the first half.
The Comets closed the gap even more with an 8-2 run to come within 5, only to watch the Vikings go on another run to end the half, Vikings were up by eight with a 49-41 edge. The Vikings were shooting hot from the field in the first half, at 57% overall and 45% from behind the arc. Free throw shooting was keeping the Comets alive in the game, as they were already at 16-18 from the line at the half.
Both teams battled closely quarter by quarter to finish things out.
Naomi Torgerson and
Andi Gayner were leading the charge for the Comets in the third quarter, combining for 18 of the team's 23 points. VCSU was answering almost bucket for bucket with 24 of their own in the same quarter, holding the lead by nine, 74-63. The Comets kept fighting, despite Torgerson reaching her 4th foul late in the third quarter, keeping her out for a few minutes of the 4th. Gayner continued to lead the charge and help shave off the Vikings lead, narrowing it to 5, behind 76-81 with 5:45 to go in the game. It didn't take long for VCSU to charge ahead for good though, and the Vikings came out with the victory at home, 95-84.
Leading all scorers was VCSU's Lexi Lennon with 25. For the Comets, it was a well-balanced attack with 5 players in double figures.
Naomi Torgerson led the team with 24 points, followed by
Andi Gayner with a solid 18.
Kylee Heurung added 13,
Karleigh Weber had 13 points and eight rebounds, and
Claire Blascziek had eleven. Weber and Torgerson each had three steals. VCSU won the battle of the boards in a narrow margin, 30-28. Torgerson, Weber, Blascziek and Heurung each went 4-4 from the free throw line, helping the team shoot 20-23 overall.
Next up for the Lady Comets will be on Saturday as they travel west to Dickinson, ND to take on Dickinson State in another NSAA road game. Game time is 3pm MT, 4pm CT.
