Box Score Madison, S.D. – Mayville State Comets Women's Basketball headed to Madison, SD Saturday afternoon to take on the No. 6 ranked Dakota State Trojans.

The game would feature two top 25 teams and be a rematch of the 2023-24 NSAA Conference Championship where the Comets beat the Trojans 61-59.

But tonight, the Comets wouldn't be able to get past the Trojans and would fall 97-71.

"The biggest factor from this game was our poor shooting performance," said head coach Ryan Carpenter. "We are generating some pretty good looks on the offensive end so we just need to be able to finish plays."

How it happened:

1^st Quarter:

• Comets win the tip
• Trojans get out to a 4-0 start
• Hughes is the first to score for the Comets, nailing a 3 pointer
• Stark follows up with a 3 pointer to take the lead 6-5
• Trojans led 20-12 at the 2:20 mark
• Comets barrel back to close out the quarter down by 4; 23-19
• Hughes led with 5 points, Alex Page with 3 rebounds

2^nd Quarter:

• Trojans open the quarter with a 3 pointer to extend their lead 26-19
• Comets struggled to get into a rhythm offensively
• Midway through the 2^nd quarter, the Trojans led 39-21
• Stark nails a 3 pointer at the 1-minute mark followed by a steal by Hughes who lays it in to make the score 28-50 Trojans with 41 seconds left in the half
• Trojans outscore Comets in the 2^nd quarter 29-11 to extend their lead 52-30
• Comets were 11 of 38 from the field, 4 of 19 from behind the arc
• Comets had 10 points in the paint while the Trojans had 28
• Stark led with 8 points, Mertens had 5 rebounds

3^rd Quarter:

• Trojans get the ball to open the second half
• Stark scores the first two buckets for the Comets
• A defensive rebound by Alex Page; Hughes is fouled and made back-to-back free throws for 8 unanswered points by the Comets to make the score 54-38
• Stark 3 pointer to cut deficit to 19; 64-44 Trojans midway through the 3^rd quarter
• Alex Page blocks a Trojans three pointer and races down the court and buries her own to cut their deficit to 14, 55-69 Trojans at the one-minute mark
• Trojans led 72-55 at the buzzer; Comets outscored the Trojans 25-20
• Stark led the Comets with 13 points in the quarter – she had 3 makes behind the arc for 21 points overall; she also had 4 fouls

4^th Quarter:

• Hughes opens the 4^th quarter with a deep three at the shot clock buzzer
• Page gets a defensive rebound and is followed up by a Mertens 3 pointer to cut the Trojan's lead to 11; 61-72
• Trojans led by as much as 25 points in the third quarter
• Neubauer sinks a three-pointer making it a 10-point game with 8 minutes remaining
• Back-to-back-to-back 3 pointers by the Trojans put their lead back up to 22 with 5 minutes remaining: 85-66
• With 4:21 left in the 4^th quarter, Hughes fouls out
• Stark hit her 6^th 3 pointer of the game for 24 points overall

Team Leaders:
Hannah Stark had 24 points and 4 rebounds. She made a career-high 6 three pointers.
Mackenzie Hughes had 15 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
Alex Page had 7 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Jes Mertens had 7 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks.

Overall:
26 of 73 from the field (35.6%)
12 of 39 from behind the arc (30.8%)
24 points in the paint compared to the Trojans 44

"Hopefully we can use th enext couple of games to find our rhythm again offensively so we can be a little more consistent going forward," added Carpenter.
 
The Comets have 3 remaining games in the 2024 year, all non-conference. They will first tip off in an exhibition game at University of North Dakota against previous head coach, Dennis Hutter, on Tuesday, December 17th. The game is set for 7:00pm in the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.

For full schedule details visit: https://msucomets.com/sports/womens-basketball/schedule/2024-25