Helena, Mont. - Mayville State Comets Women's Basketball hit the road Friday for a non-conference match up against future Frontier Conference opponent, Carroll College.

The No. 18 ranked Comets were tested on the road as the Fighting Saints sit ranked at No. 21. The Comets would battle late, but fall up short losing 60-65 to Carroll.

"I thought our compete level was really high tonight. We are a three point shooting team and on a night where we aren't shooting it well we still battled enough to give ourselves a chance and because of that, I am proud of us," said head coach Ryan Carpenter.

The Comets rattled off 3 shots behind the arc early in the first quarter, but would only make 4 the rest of the game, shooting 22.6% at the 3 point line overall.

Carroll was able to kick the night off on an 8-0 run and be able to lead by 9 after the first 10 minutes were played.

The Saint would lead by as much as 14 in the second quarter, but the Comets cut that down to six and entered half time down only 26-32. 

Mayville State outscored the Saints in the third quarter 15-12 and got within two points in the 4th quarter behind an offensive burst of 11 points from Misti Zempel.

With one minute remaining, a deep three by Hughes would get the Comets within 3 points.

Despite the late push, Carroll was able to hold the Comets off and hand them their 2nd loss of the season.

Zempel led the way for the comets, scoring 18 points and racking up 5 rebounds - all defensive.

Mackenzie Hughes followed close behind with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals.

"Ultimately, untimely turnovers is what I thought the X factor in the game was. Winning on the road against a nationally ranked team is always going to be a challenge and unfortunately tonight for us we just didn't quite have enough to get the job done," added Carpenter. 

The Comets will have a quick turn around and be tested again on Saturday as they take on Rocky Mountain College, who is receiving votes in the NAIA National Coaches Poll. Tipoff is slated for 6pm (CT). 

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