Lake Wales, Fla. - The Comets Women's Basketball team spent the Thanksgiving break in Florida and faced the Warner University Royals. A 9-0 Comets run in the third quarter proved decisive and never trailed after that to win 67-62.

"It's always fun to have the opportunity to play new teams and travel as a team to a place like Florida. It was a good experience in a new environment and we are very thankful for this opportunity," commented head coach Dennis Hutter.

The Comets jumped out to an early lead, as an Alex Page layup gave the Comets a 12-6 advantage. The Royals responded by holding the Comets scoreless for five minutes and reclaimed the lead at 17-12. Two free throws by Jordan Zrust at the end of the quarter sliced the deficit to 17-14.

Warner continued to play well and expanded their lead to 27-18 three minutes into the second quarter. Mayville State held the Royals without a field goal for over six minutes and stormed back with a 16-2 run. Greta Hillukka and Jes Mertens combined for 11 of the 16 points during this stretch.

The Comets went into halftime with a slim 34-32 lead.

The momentum shifted back to the home team to open the third quarter as the Royals scored 10 straight points, which turned a 39-34 deficit into a 44-39 advantage.

The Comets immediately ripped off nine straight points to grab the lead right back from Warner. Zrust contributed five of the nine points, and Mayville State went into the fourth quarter ahead 51-47.

The Comets used a couple three pointers to bump the lead to 57-49 early in the fourth quarter, but the Royals made one more run. Seven straight points by the Royals trimmed the Comet lead to one at 58-57 with just over four minutes left to play.

Clutch triples by Erin Walcker, CJ Decker and Mertens prevented the Royals from retaking the lead and won 67-62.

The three point line was the difference in the game, as Mayville State connected on 12 treys while the Royals only made five in the game.

Hillukka nailed four of those triples and led the Comets in scoring with 12, followed closely by Zrust, Mertens and Walcker with 11 apiece. Zrust hauled down 13 rebounds and Mackenzie Hughes added three steals.

"I think today we played together. We had very even scoring and itw as nice to see ththe girls paly together. Considering our travel, I thought the girls were able to pull through in the end. Our bench was very good as well and brought a lot of energy from the start," added Hutter.

The win boosts the Comets record to 7-2. Mayville State next faces a rematch at Minnesota-Morris Thursday, tip off is at 5:00pm.