Morris, Minn. - The No. 20 Comets Women's Basketball went to Minnesota to take on the University of Minnesota-Morris Cougars. After a slow start, the Comets found their groove and pulled away in the second quarter to win 69-51.

"We played like I thought we would playing coming out of Florida. I kind of knew we would not shoot the ball well tonight just due to travel and tired legs. We chatted with the team yesterday about getting easy baskets tonight. Like scoring out of our press and in transition. And we did that. We also defended really well tonight. Which you need to be able to do to win games when you don't shoot well," said head coach Dennis Hutter.

After a quick basket to open the scoring, the Comets sputtered for the next three minutes, which allowed the Cougars to jump out to a 7-2 advantage. Mayville State responded and tied the game at 10 halfway through the first quarter on an Alex Page triple. The Comets connected on a trio of three pointers to open up a slight lead after 10 minutes at 23-19.

The Comets clamped down on defense in the second period, as they held Morris scoreless for almost eight minutes and expanded a 23-19 lead into a 33-19 advantage. The Comets forced 10 Cougar turnovers in the quarter and only allowed four points to head into halftime ahead 37-23.

The third quarter was the Jordan Zrust and Mackenzie Hughes show, as the two Comets combined for all 20 points for Mayville State.

Zrust exploded for 13 in the quarter while Hughes scored the other seven. A Zrust free throw pushed the lead as high as 50-31, but the Cougars fought back with nine straight points to cut the deficit to 10. At the end of the third, the Comets kept the advantage at 14 points, 57-43.

Similar to the second quarter, the Comets defense shined in the fourth. Mayville State allowed one basket in the first seven and a half minutes of the quarter.

After a And-1 from Zrust, the lead was back up to 18 at 64-46. Zrust finished her outstanding night by scoring the last eight Comets points and made the final score 69-51.

Zrust finished with a season-high 34 points and also grabbed eight rebounds on the night. Hughes with the only other Comet in double figures with 17 and also collected a season high five steals.

"Jordan is a relentless worker and competitor. She is so consistent because she gives a consistent competitive effort everyday both on and off the floor. She is a tremendous leader for our program. I am lucky to coach her everyday," said Hutter about is all-american. 

The Comets record now stands at 8-2. Mayville State witll have an exhibition game on Sunday at NDSU at 1:00pm and then returns home to host the Trinity Bible College Lions on Tuesday, December 5^th. Tip off is at 5:30pm.