The Comets defeated #7 ranked Morningside College during a Holiday Tournament at Briar Cliff. Three Comets finished in double-figures in the scoring column—Blascziek led the Comets with 15 points; Bunting added in 14 and Heurung added 12. In addition to her 12 points, Heurung finished with a double-double, racking up 17 rebounds, with 12 coming on the defensive glass. To watch this game, click on this link.

SIOUX CITY, IOWA – The end of the 2019 calendar year was very nice for the 21^st ranked Mayville State University Comets women's basketball team. After defeating Briar Cliff on Saturday, the Comets rebounded quickly with an afternoon affair against seventh-ranked Morningside College in the Newman Flanagan Center. Despite trailing 50-49 at the end of three quarters, the Comets rallied and defeated Morningside 68-60 to improve to 11-2 on the season.
 
"I thought our kids showed great toughness and resiliency again tonight," Comets head coach Dennis Hutter said. "With the short turn around and getting down big early, they showed great effort and character in coming back."
 
Morningside jumped out to an 8-2 lead on the hands of a pair of free throws by Sierra Mitchell with 5:48 to go in the first quarter, but Nicole Bunting cut the lead in half just seconds later with a layup of her own, making it an 8-4 basketball game.
 
Eventually, Morningside went on a 9-0 run to pull ahead 17-4 on the heels of sharp shooter Taylor Rodenburgh, who found her way to the basket in a variety of ways.
 
Taylor Shamp and Kylee Heurung each had a bucket in the final 1:17 of the first quarter, and the Comets trailed 20-8 heading into the second quarter.
 
Mayville State then fought hard out of the gate in the second quarter. A Cyan Hale block on a three-point shot by Mitchell set up a defensive rebound opportunity by Heurung. She took advantage and found a wide-open Bunting, who nailed a three-pointer to cut the lead to 20-11 with 8:44 to go before the halftime break.
 
Mitchell, however, responded with a basket 30 seconds later, widening the lead to double-digits again. The Mustangs eventually built a 17-point lead with 6:43 to go, before Alissa Foster began to turn the tables with a three-pointer.
 
A couple of big defensive rebounds by the Comets set up a pass from Hale to Shamp, who found the basket and made it a 12-point contest with just over five minutes to go in the half. Bunting again brought the game to within single-digits with a three-pointer.
 
"Our defensive effort was outstanding all game long," Hutter said.
 
Rodenburgh did just as she was looked upon to do—hit a two-pointer and was fouled by Bunting, hitting the free-throw to complete the three-point play to put Morningside ahead by 12 points with 3:49 left in the half.
 
Sharp-shooting Bunting hit another three-pointer, making it a nine-point contest. Sophia Peppers answered with a two, only to be countered by Heurung, who made it 33-24 with 2:40 left in the half.
 
Mayville State ended the first half hot, going on a 6-3 run over the final 1:20 on a pair of three-pointers—one by Claire Blascziek and one by Foster. Tayte Hansen hit a three for Morningside with six seconds left in the half, giving the Mustangs a six-point halftime lead.
 
Threes a plenty in the first 23 seconds of the third quarter, as Hale hit the Comets first bucket of the second half with 12 seconds gone in the third quarter, countered by Mitchell's trey with 23 seconds gone in the quarter.
 
The teams settled in for a defensive battle, until Mayville State found a spark.
 
Blascziek hit a two-pointer down low with eight minutes left in the third quarter, the start of an 11-0 run for Mayville State. At the time, Blascziek brought the Comets to within four points of the Mustangs.
 
Zrust hit back-to-back threes in a span of 20 seconds, giving Mayville State a two-point advantage with just under seven minutes to go in the third quarter. Blascziek continued the three-point domination with a trey of her own, pulling Mayville State ahead 44-39 with 6:20 to go in the third.
 
Peppers then took over for Morningside, hitting back-to-back jumpers to pull the Mustangs to within one point. A pair of Faith Meyer free-throws with 3:20 to go in the third quarter put Morningside ahead by one point. But, Bunting put a halt to that, tying the game with a free-throw with 3:02 to go in the third quarter.
 
Peppers again gave Morningside the lead with a bucket down low with 2:37 left, putting Morningside up 47-45. Olivia Larsen gave the Mustangs a five-point lead with a triple of her own with just over a minute left. Andrea Skillingstad stopped the run with a bucket down low with 57 seconds left, pulling the Comets back to within three points. A pair of Heurung free-throws in the closing seconds brought Mayville State to within one point with 10 minutes left in regulation.
 
That brings the fourth quarter.
 
Heurung got the scoring rolling with a bucket down low 45 seconds in, giving the Comets a 51-50 lead.
 
Hansen then countered with a three, giving Morningside the lead back 53-51 with 7:49 to go. Peppers extended the lead to four on a pair of free-throws with 6:43 to go on a Taylor Shamp foul.
 
Hale then made things interesting, hitting a shot down low, making the score 55-53 in favor of Morningside with 6:18 to go in regulation.
 
A huge three came next.
 
Bunting gathered a defensive rebound off a missed two-pointer by Sierra Mitchell, which would had made it a four-point game with 5:42 left. Bunting found a wide-open Blascziek, who drained a three, giving Mayville State the lead back, 56-55, with five-and-a-half minutes left in the contest.
 
Over a minute later, Heurung stole the ball from Abby Drieling. Hansen fouled Heurung, sending her to the free-throw line for a pair of pivotal free throws. She drained both, giving the Comets an important—and big—three-point lead with 4:16 to go in the fourth quarter.
 
30 seconds later, Shamp fouled Sydney Hupp, sending her to the free-throw line, with Morningside trailing 58-55.
 
Two successful free-throws would have made it a very interesting contest. But, as luck would have it, Hupp made one of two, making it a one-possession, two-point basketball game, 58-56, with 3:47 to go in the contest.
 
Not more than 11 seconds later, Hansen fouled Heurung, sending the dangerous free-throw shooter to the line for a pair of throws. And, in typical Heurung fashion, she made both, widening the lead to four points with a lot of time left—3:36 to be exact.
 
Up four with under two minutes left, Hale fouled Meyer on a defensive rebound on a missed three-pointer by Blascziek. And, as was tradition in Sunday's game, Meyer made both free throws—bringing the score to 60-58 with 1:56 to go in the fourth quarter.
 
Zrust picked up a defensive rebound on a missed two-pointer by Hupp, and was fouled by Peppers, sending the freshman to the free-throw line for two clutch throws. And Zrust hit both, giving the Comets a four-point lead with just over a minute to go.
 
Four more successful free-throws by Blascziek, over two different trips, widened the gap to eight points in the final 12 seconds.
 
Hupp made it a six-point game with 10 seconds left, setting up a dramatic finish.
 
On the Comets way down the court, Peppers fouled Bunting, sending the Redwood Falls native to the free-throw line again—where she made both shots. Mayville State held an eight-point lead, 68-60, with seven seconds to go.
 
"We were able to make enough offensive plays down the stretch to get and hold onto the lead," Hutter said.
 
Too little, too late, Mitchell missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
 
Three Comets finished in double-figures in the scoring column—Blascziek led the Comets with 15 points; Bunting added in 14 and Heurung added 12. In addition to her 12 points, Heurung finished with a double-double, racking up 17 rebounds, with 12 coming on the defensive glass.
 
The win over Morningside, Mayville State's 11^th win of the season, is big, according to Hutter.
 
"This is a big time win for this team and this program," he said. "I'm so proud of how the kids represented our program and Mayville State today."
 
The Comets return to the court on January 7, when they host Trinity Bible College at the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse.