MAYVILLE, ND – Comet women's basketball head coach Dennis Hutter's mantra continues to be 'get one percent better each day.' And the Comets responded, holding the Providence University College Pilots to less than 35 points in Sunday's 86-34 win in non-conference action at the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse. The win was Mayville State's third in a row, the best start for the Comets since the 2017-18 season, when the Comets won their first four, and eight of their first nine games.
"Tonight, our emphasis was coming back and working as a team," assistant coach Andi Gayner said.
On Sunday, the Comets scored early, and often.
The scoring began just 20 seconds into the game, when Kylee Heurung drilled a three-point basket.
Providence countered just over a minute later, when Alena Collier picked up a defensive rebound on Heurung's missed three-pointer. Collier traveled coast-to-coast, picking up Natalya Reimer's pass and finding the hoop for a 3-2 Mayville State lead.
The Comets then took a 4-0 run to just over seven minutes left in the quarter, capped off by a Heurung pair of free throws.
Reimer cut the lead to three points with just 6:05 to go in the first quarter, on a pass from Hannah Van Schie.
Mayville State rounded out their scoring in the first quarter with Nicole Bunting's three-pointer with 1:11 to go, pulling Mayville State ahead 24-9. The Pilots' Nomqhele Mahlangu hit a buzzer-beater to cut the Comet lead to 24-11 at the end of one quarter.
The second quarter was a shootout early.
Megan Wiebe sunk a three 12 seconds in, only to be followed, 10 seconds later, by Alissa Foster's three. The Comets held a 13-point lead at that time.
A 5-0 run three minutes into the quarter for Providence pulled them to within eight points of the Comets, but Mayville State bounced back, nearly doubling the lead in a span of 50 seconds—on buckets by Taylor Shamp, Jordan Zrust and Heurung, along with a free throw on Zrust's basket.
Collier pulled up for a two with 5:23 left in the half, but that's all the scoring the Pilots could do.
Mayville State went on a 10-0 run to finish the first half, with Foster and Zrust teaming up to drain one three pointer each.
The third quarter was utter domination by the Comets.
Katelin Thiessen's two-pointer with 30 seconds gone was the lone Providence basket, as Mayville State ran off 13 straight points.
"The biggest thing is to not give up any 'O' boards," Gayner said. "In the third quarter, we did a much better job of that."
The 13-0 run was sparked by a pair of threes—one by Claire Blaszciek and the other by Bunting. The two threes came within 35 seconds of each other.
With a healthy 57-23 lead heading into the fourth quarter, Mayville State extended it to 62-26 on a Heather Elfering three-point bucket with 9:19 left.
The three-point show continued in the fourth quarter, as Taylor Skjordal, Cyan Hale, Erin Walcker and Sara Herzog all added to the Comet three-point tally.
Bunting and Zrust led all scorers with 10 points each, including Bunting's 2-of-6 showing from the three-point line. Heurung and Shamp each added nine points for the Comets.
"It's a lot of fun seeing our players achieve some things we weren't sure of," Gayner said. "Effort and attitude, that's what we preach every day."
Mayville State (3-0) will take on the University of Jamestown Jimmies on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse in Mayville. The Comets defeated the Jimmies in their last matchup, 65-54. The Comets are 1-6 against the Jimmies, dating back to January 28, 2012.