Box Score
MAYVILLE, ND – The Comets came into Saturday's game at home against the Bellevue Bruins with a nice win from the previous night over Dakota State. With an Alumni Weekend and Senior Night for the team, there was plenty of family and friends in the crowd to support them in their last regular season home game of the season.
The first quarter saw some close action between the two teams.
Naomi Torgerson hit the first field goal for the Comets to take a 3-2 lead, but the tight battles would ensue as the game became a back-and-forth effort from both sides. The Comets hit a spark off of two consecutive 3's by
Cyan Hale to go up 13-9, but quickly saw it become tied up once again at 13 all. Bellevue closed out the quarter in the lead after a free throw and last second toss for a three, leading 17-13 after the first.
The Bruins continued their push in the second quarter, with a majority of the Comets offense coming from
Andi Gayner down low in that stretch. After a Karliegh Weber three and a bucket by
Andrea Skillingstad, the Comets closed the Bruins lead to six at 30-24. The lead extended to ten for the Bruins but was reduced to eight at the half, 37-29 after two Torgerson free throws for the Comets. Caletria Curtis was scoring steady for the Bruins in the first half, netting twelve points to pace her squad.
The third quarter saw the Bruins build their lead to as much as 13, fueled by Curtis on a string of buckets. The Comets clamped down their defense after that and went on a solid 8-0 run, with four Comets contributing on the run. It forced a Bruins timeout at 1:18 to play in the quarter. Each team swapped a 3-pointer in the remaining minute, with
Joelle Ertl closing the lead to five on a clutch 3-point bucket. Going into the final ten minutes of play, the Comets were down 46-51.
For the first 3:30 of the fourth quarter, the Comets offense fired things up with a 7-3 run and narrowed the Bruins lead down to one with the effort. The game stayed relatively close and got back to within one after five quick points from an
Andi Gayner bucket and a three by Weber, getting the Comets to a score of 58 to 59. The Bruins went on to finish it out with a stretch of their own, netting seven consecutive points to stretch out to an 8-point lead. MSU took a timeout at 1:20 left to go, with both teams remaining scoreless for nearly a minute. After a Bruins' free throw, Torgerson came down to get a layup and narrowed the lead to four with 13.5 seconds left in the game. Forced to foul and keep the clock from running, the Comets saw the lead expand to seven as the Bruins were able to hit free throws andescape with the win, 70 to 63.
Leading all scorers was Caletria Curtis for the Bruins, scoring 20 on 9-19 from the field. She was followed on her team by Beth Walker with 17 and Morgan Cuffe with eleven. For the Comets,
Andi Gayner led her team with 17, shooting 7-12 from the field and 3-4 from the free throw line.
Naomi Torgerson followed with twelve points and nearly got a double-double with nine rebounds to lead the team in that category.
Joelle Ertl put in ten to round out the scoring leaders for the Comets.
The Bruins led in overall rebounds, 35 to 30. Assists were relatively even between the two teams, Bellevue gaining a 14-13 edge. Both teams also had their fair share of turnovers, the Bruins having 16 and the Comets committing 20.
The Comets now sit at 17-8, and 8-6 in the NSAA. They wrap up the regular season conference games next weekend when they travel on the road to Viterbo University and Waldorf University next Friday and Saturday.
