MORRIS, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Morris Cougars faced the Mayville State University Comets in a home court, non-conference matchup. The Cougars came away from the tough loss with a 1-8 overall record on the season.
The Cougars kept the scoring close in the first quarter of the game. Claire Stark knocked down a pair of free throws to open the scoring for Minnesota Morris, followed up by three made jumpers from Maddy Grove and a three pointer from Itzel Salazar. Down 11-17 with five minutes in the quarter, Savanna Pelzer splashed a three to put the Cougars down just three. Scoring bounced back and forth between the two teams with the Comets holding a 27-20 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Mayville rained down threes in the second quarter of this matchup, hitting three to open up scoring in the quarter. Myers responded with a jumper and a triple of her own to get the scoring started for the Cougars. A 24-4 run for the Comets in the last 6:21 of the quarter flung them into a 63-31 lead heading into halftime.
Minnesota Morris came out of halftime matching Mayville almost point for point. With five minutes to go in the third quarter, the Cougars trailed 44-79. Myers knocked down a pair from the charity stripe for the home team to open the scoring back up for Minnesota Morris. An 8-4 run finished off the third quarter for the Cougars, though they trailed 54-87 heading into the fourth.
The Cougars outscored the Comets 14-8 in the fourth quarter of the matchup, dropping the first ten points of the quarter. Mayville answered back with an 8-4 run to close out the fourth quarter and secure a 95-68 victory in the game.
Grove led Minnesota Morris in scoring, dropping fourteen while adding seven rebounds and six assists. Stark and Myers each scored eleven points on the night, while Salazar earned ten for the Cougars. Shelby Mortenson scored eight points on the night and pulled in eleven rebounds, seven of which were on the defense glass.
The Cougars will play one more non-conference matchup against St. Catherine University at 2 pm on Dec. 31 before hosting Martin Luther College in their first conference game of the season.
