Box Score

MAYVILLE, ND – Coming off a hard loss at home, the #23 Comets had to bounce back to play the Dickinson State Blue Hawks in another NSAA conference game. Both teams came into the game with a losing streak to break with DSU falling to the University of Jamestown on Friday night. 

The Comets came out on a strong note holding DSU scoreless for almost the first 4 minutes. MSU immediately broke out on a 9-0 run, including two consecutive 3's by Karleigh Weber. It soon became a shooting spree of 3's for the Comets, Weber hit her third one to help the Comets take a 16-2 lead. DSU was only able to produce a lone free throw to end the quarter and the Comets rounded out the final seconds with a last second three by Haley Anderson to close the quarter, 27-3. 

It was more of the same from the Comets to begin the second quarter. The Comets hit their next five field goals from behind the arc with Weber's 4th starting the stretch. Sydney Gangl hit two in a row, followed by Claire Blascziek and Joelle Ertl as the Comets' lead lifted 42 to 8 at that point. 

DSU found a run of their own to halt the Comets scoring for a brief time, going on an 11-4 run to end the half. At the break, the Comets went into the locker room with a comfortable 46-19 lead. 

Scoring in the third quarter was a bit more balanced. Both teams managed to go on scoring stretches but the defense was stiff. The spread eventually increased for the Comets as they took a 29 point lead with 10 minutes left in the game, 60 to 29.  

DSU began the fourth quarter with a 9 -3 run, causing Coach Hutter to call a quick timeout to get the Comets a little back on track. They responded with a quick 11-0 run, capped off by Kylee Heurung getting the last five of that run within a few seconds of each other. The Comets were able to limit the Blue Hawks to just five more points in the game and captured a nice home win, 79 to 45. 

Coach Dennis Hutter was happy to be back up to a solid level of play with the win. "It was nice to come back and play well today after how we played last night. We are working through some injuries right now, and we look forward to getting back to full strength. It was great to see Naomi back on the floor today."

Leading the Comets, as well as all scorers, was Karleigh Weber with 22, followed by Kylee Heurung with 14. Andrea Skillingstad came close to a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds to lead her team.
 
For the Blue Hawks, Riley Helmick led the way with 21, followed by her teammate Isidora Tasovic with nine. As a team, the Comets won the battle down low for rebounds, outrebounding the Hawks 49 to 38, including a 15 to 8 offensive rebound advantage. 

The #23 Comets (15-6, 6-4 NSAA) will be on the road next weekend to Aberdeen, SD to face Presentation College on Saturday, January 27th at 3:00 pm.