Women's Basketball Rallies to Top Comets

Doane Women's Basketball returned to Bellevue on Friday afternoon to take on Mayville State in the second day of the Bellevue Classic. Both teams came into the game following victories on Thursday to essentially set up a battle for the championship title of the classic. The Comets had a scorching start to both halves as they built a nine-point lead in each half only to see Doane rally for an 85-83 win.

Mayville State jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the opening three minutes of play. The Comets made 4-of-5 from behind the arc and 7-of-8 from the field to start the game as they held a 22-14 lead with 3:55 to play in the opening quarter. Doane would go on a 5-0 run over the final 70 seconds of the quarter and trailed by four points, 27-23.

The Comets maintained their lead with a pair of 3-point baskets to counter a 5-0 run by the Tigers. However, Doane would go on another 5-0 run to tie the game at 33-all. Mayville would regain the lead three more times in the quarter as Doane had an answer to match each Comet score. 

The Tigers took their first lead, 42-40, with 1:41 to play in the quarter on a Kali Staples jumper. Following a free throw from Mayville State, Doane would end up with the final shot of the half. Mak Hatcliff pulled in an offensive rebound and made the put-back attempt, also drawing a foul. She made the free throw to give the Tigers a 45-41 lead at the break.

Doane was held scoreless through the first five minutes of the 3rd quarter, allowing the Comets to go on a 13-0 run to regain the lead, 54-45. A pair of Hatcliff free throws put the Tigers on the board at the 4:36 mark. Doane would cut the lead to two, 58-56, heading into the final quarter as they utilized a 7-0 run late in the 3rd quarter.

The Tigers regained the lead early in the 4th quarter as a 9-0 run sparked Doane to a 67-61 advantage with 7:01 to play. Mayville State battled back to tie the game at 71-all only to see Doane answer with an 11-3 run to take an eight-point advantage with 44 seconds left.

Following an exchange of free throws, Doane would see their eight-point lead, 84-76, with 32 seconds left shrink quickly to one point, 84-83, with seven seconds left. The Comets turned an offensive rebound into a three-point play which was followed by two missed free throws by Doane. Mayville State came down and hit a 3-point basket and then forced a turnover on the inbounds attempt. The Comets inbounded the ball and drew a foul but came up with 1-of-2 free throws to pull within a point.

Doane responded with 1-of-2 free throws to set up the final sequence. Mayville State brought the ball upcourt and shot a 3-point basket for the lead. The shot attempt was too strong but the Comets came down with the offensive rebound. The putback attempt was also strong as the horn sounded to end the game.

Hatcliff led all scorers with 33 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the floor and 11-of-11 at the free throw line. Macy Holtz finished with 19 points, hitting three 3-point baskets and 6-of-8 at the free throw line. Megan Chambers added 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor. Off the bench, Libby Trausch and Maddie Portwine added eight points apiece. Doane's bench out-scored Mayville State, 18-5.

The Tigers pulled in 13 offensive rebounds with five coming from Hatcliff as she led the team with nine total rebounds in the game. Trausch added seven rebounds, three on the offensive end. Hatcliff also dished out five assists in the game to lead the Tigers as the team had 18 assists on 29 made baskets. Holtz and Hatcliff led the way with three steals apiece.

From the floor, Doane shot 48.3-percent (29-of-60) while hitting 37.5-percent (6-of-16) behind the arc. At the free throw line, the Tigers converted 70-percent (21-of-30) of their attempts. Mayville State shot 43.1-percent (25-of-58) from the floor and 42.9-percent (15-of-35) from 3-point range. At the free throw line, the Comets made 75-percent (18-of-24) of their shot attempts.

Jordan Zrust led the Comets with 21 points and 12 rebounds. She scored 11 of her points in the opening quarter. Erin Walcker added 20 points with Jes Mertens finishing with 19 points as she hit five 3-point baskets.

The Tigers will return to conference play as they turn the calendar to 2023. Doane will travel to Fremont on January 4 to take on Midland at 6 PM.