MAYVILLE, N.D. – The University of Minnesota Morris women's basketball team could not keep up with hot-shooting Mayville State University in an 83-57 loss on Tuesday night. The Cougars slip to 1-5 overall on the season.

Mayville State took its time getting started, but took off once the ball finally found the bottom of the net. The game remained scoreless for more than two minutes before consecutive jumpers from Maddy Grove put Minnesota Morris ahead, 4-0, with three minutes gone. The Comets finally made a free throw at the 6:18 mark of the first quarter to get on the board, then promptly reeled off a 12-0 run to take the lead for good. Three-point plays from Claire Stark and Reece Wassink kept the Cougars in it until Mayville State scored the final five points to lead, 19-10, after 10 minutes of play.

That 5-0 burst at the end of the first quarter extended out to 11-0 as Minnesota Morris went the first four minutes of the second quarter without scoring. The Cougars later would have four different scorers in an 8-0 run that cut the deficit to 32-23, but the Comets rebuilt the lead to 40-25 by the break.

Any chance of a comeback in the third quarter ended pretty quickly as Mayville State went red-hot from beyond the arc. Of the eight Comet field goals in the quarter, six came from distance – including one just before the buzzer to give MSU a 62-36 lead heading into the final frame.

Grove and Stark worked in tandem in the fourth quarter as Minnesota Morris and Mayville State battled to a 21-21 deadlock over the final 10 minutes of the contest. The two first-year players combined for 20 of the Cougar points, 10 from Stark and nine from Grove, though the Comets never saw their lead fall below 20 points down the stretch.

Grove ended the night with a team-high 17 points and five rebounds. Stark added 16 points with four boards. Malory Anderson nabbed a team-high seven rebounds along with three blocks.

Minnesota Morris returns to James Gremmels Court on Nov. 28, hosting Valley City State University at 5 p.m.