BEMIDJI -- The Bemidji State women's basketball team rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to topple NAIA foe Mayville State 82-76 Friday night at the BSU Gymnasium.
The Comets (4-4) shot 6-of-8 from long range in the first half and took a 10-8 lead on Karleigh Weber's triple at the 16:04 mark. Mayville went on a 14-10 run to keep the Beavers (2-2) at arms length for most of the first half.
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BSU took a 29-28 lead on Aimee Pelzer's jumper at the 5:09 mark but the teams went back-and-forth for the rest of the first half.
Eventually Mayville went on a 7-0 run in the final 2:26 and took a 42-37 lead into halftime on Jenna London's triple at the buzzer.
"Quite honestly, they outplayed us in the first half," BSU head coach Mike Curfman said. "The second half I thought we did a much better job of adjusting and a much better job of countering and we started making some shots."
However, the Comets kept coming for the first five minutes of the first half, going on a 9-3 run and took the game's largest lead at 51-40.
The Beavers didn't rattle back to life until late in the second.
Tatum Sheley's layup tied the game at 59-all at the 8:29 mark before the Comets went up 63-59.
Sheley made a three-pointer with 7:27 to go to bring the Beavers to within 63-62, then Sierra Senske's layup at 6:34 gave BSU its first lead of the game since the first half.
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The Comets didn't quit, taking another 5-point lead at 71-66 with four minutes left.
But Sheley scored the next seven points -- two jumpers and a three-pointer -- to give the Beavers the lead they wouldn't relinquish at 73071.
The Comets tied it up once more at 76-all but Pelzer hit a three with 1:36 to go, then made two foul shots with 33 seconds left to ice the game.
Sheley led the Beavers with 24 points, including 10-for-20 from the floor and 4-for-9 from three-point land. Pelzer had 14 points and added a team-high nine rebounds for BSU while Sarah Durand scored 15.
Andi Gayner led all Mayville players with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Liza Hoglo also had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. London added 15 points and Weber 12 for the Comets.
The Beavers return to the court next Saturday, Nov. 29, for their Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opener against Minnesota-Crookston.
Bemidji State 82, Mayville State 76
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Mayville State (4-4) -- Gayner 6-16 7-9 19; Hoglo 5-14 7-9 18; London 6-12 1-1 15; Weber 4-9 0-0 12; Ertl 2-4 2-2 6; Henrikson 1-1 0-0 3; Blair 1-4 0-0 2; Lentner 0-1 1-2 1; Nopola 0-0 0-0 0; Heier 0-2 0-0 0; Shimpa 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-63 18-23 76.
Bemidji State (2-2) -- Sheley 10-20 0-0 24; Durand 6-15 3-4 15; Pelzer 5-14 2-2 14; Zerr 4-13 0-0 9; Senske 3-6 0-0 6; Cordes 2-5 0-0 5; Knuti 2-4 1-2 5; McKee 1-4 0-0 2; Kuehndorf 1-3 0-0 2; Reichert 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 34-86 6-8 82.
Halftime -- Mayville State 42-37
3-point goals--Mayville State 8-17 (Weber 4-6; London 2-3; Hoglo 1-2; Henrikson 1-1; Heier 0-2; Blair 0-2; Gayner 0-1), Bemidji State 8-24 (Sheley 4-9; Pelzer 2-7; Zerr 1-2; Cordes 1-3; McKee 0-1; Kuehndorf 0-2). Fouled out--Mayville State-None, Bemidji State-None. Rebounds--Mayville State 43 ( Gayner 13), Bemidji State 43 (Pelzer 9). Assists--Mayville State 10 (Ertl 2; Hoglo 2; Weber 2), Bemidji State 18 (Pelzer 7). Total fouls--Mayville State 15, Bemidji State 17. Technical fouls--Mayville State-None, Bemidji State-None. A-360
