Box Score ABERDEEN, SD – The 20^th ranked Mayville State University Comets opened North Star Athletic Association women's basketball play on Saturday, traveling to Aberdeen, S.D., to take on the Presentation College Saints at the Strode Center. The Comet offense was hot, while the stifling defense continued, as the Comets held the Saints to 24 first half points en route to a 91-55 win. The win marked Mayville State's fifth in a row and ninth of the season.
 
"I thought this was a good test for us for our first conference game of the year," Comets head coach Dennis Hutter said. "The kids responded very well."
 
With back-to-back threes by the Comets, by Claire Blascziek and Nicole Bunting, and a three-point play by Kylee Heurung, the Comets took a 13-4 lead less than five minutes into the contest.
 
Leannah Vitalis then took over scoring five points, with Haylie Vallery adding a two-pointer, bringing Presentation to within two possessions with under three-and-a-half minutes left in the quarter. The Comets, however, responded.
 
Alissa Foster and Cyan Hale continued the long-distance shooting, connecting for threes in the final minutes of the quarter, extending Mayville State's lead back to double-digits, 21-11. Foster added another three with just over a minute left, making it an 11-point Comet lead. The Saints ended the first quarter with three points, coming on a free-throw by Tone' Oglesby with 49 seconds left and a basket by Allison Cox with just 20 seconds to go, making it an eight-point Comet lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
The second quarter saw the stifling Comet defense show up, as Mayville State only allowed eight points, while scoring 13 offensively. Six of the eight Presentation points came in a span of just over two minutes, as the Comets went on an 11-2 run to end the first half, led by five points by Bunting. Mayville State led 37-24 at the halftime break.
 
The third quarter started out back-and-forth, as the team exchanged baskets over the first 1:03 before Mayville State continued showing their strength on the offensive side of the ball.
 
Heurung's bucket with 6:40 to go in the third sparked a 10-0 run, which saw the Comets amass five different scorers, including Jordan Zrust, whose three-pointer gave the Comets a 19-point lead with 5:31 to go in the third quarter. Cyan Hale began her hot streak at the free-throw line, as she sank three straight free-throws pulling the Comets ahead ahead 53-30. Hale's three with 90 seconds left was the final Comet basket of the third quarter, which ended with Mayville State ahead 63-37.
 
Blascziek made quick work of the start of the fourth quarter, nailing a three just 20 seconds in. Then Zrust took over the offensive effort.
 
Other than a Jada Campbell two-pointer with 6:03 left, followed by a Cox free-throw with 5:50 left, Zrust showed her strength. The freshman from Buffalo, Minn., scored 11 straight points for the Comets, including back-to-back three-pointers in a span of just over a minute early in the fourth. Erin Walcker, a freshman from Beulah, N.D., capped off the Comet run with a two-pointer, giving Mayville State a 38-point lead, 79-41, with 4:04 to go in the game.
 
Campbell then cut the lead to 36, only to be answered less than 20 seconds later by a Sara Herzog three. Campbell came right back and answered with another two-pointer, and the Foster threw up a three-pointer, giving the Comets a 30-point lead, 85-45, with just under three minutes left to play.
 
Ashlynn Filliez hit back-to-back free throws, countered by Heather Elfering, who nailed a three-pointer, giving Mayville State the 88-47 advantage with just over two minutes left. Campbell then went on a 6-0 spree, broken up after the first basket by Elfering's second straight three-pointer. The Comets were held scoreless for the final 91 seconds of the basketball game.
 
"We played and shot very well in the second half," Hutter said.
 
Five Comets were in double-figures in scoring—Zrust led the Comets with 14 points, including three-of-six from the three-point line; Heurung finished with a double-double, 13 points and 10 rebounds; Hale and Blascziek each finished with 12 points, while Bunting finished with 10.
 
The Comets shot 47 percent from the field, making 16 of 37 three-pointers.
 
Presentation College shot 30 percent from the field.