Comets whip Ambassadors

Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Lacy Leonard shoots over Stephens College's Pam Dodge Saturday. Leonard scored 31 points in Tuesday's game, an 81-45 win over Ozark Christian College, as the Comets rebounded from Saturday's loss.

NEVADA, Mo. -- In their final regular season game, the Cottey Comets made a statement Tuesday, defeating Ozark Christian College 81-45.

Lacy Leonard dominated the paint with 31 points and 16 rebounds, and everyone on the roster got into the game as the Comets used a 12-0 run in the first half to pull away from the Lady Ambassadors.

"This is a game to get well on," Cottey head coach Dave Ketterman said. "I think we came out with a really good effort the first five minutes of both halves."

Leonard scored 22 of her 31 points before halftime, as the Lady Ambassadors simply couldn't keep pace.

Ozark started the game in a sagging 2-3 zone, trying to keep Leonard from touching the ball.

It worked for about four minutes, until Cottey got the outside game going.

Kayla Orear hit two 3-pointers and Sandra Powers knocked down a 14-footer from the right corner as part of the Comets' big early run, and they turned a 6-6 game into an 18-6 advantage.

Eventually the Lady Ambassadors extended their zone enough to allow the Comets to get the ball inside to Leonard, and Cottey closed the half with a huge wave of momentum sparked by seven consecutive buckets by the 5-11 Nevada native.

Defensively the Comets were playing well also, limiting Ozark to 14 first-half points as they went to the locker room up by 26.

In the second half the Comets continued to do what they wanted, despite resting the starters for most of the final 20 minutes.

April Kelso, Carissa Mitchell, Ashleigh Houdyshell, Katie Taylor, Kelsey Bruce and Lauren Sholes all got extended playing time with the Comets comfortably ahead.

Even with Cottey's second team on the floor, the Comets continued to build on their lead. With five minutes left in the game, Cottey led 79-32, their largest cushion in the contest.

Ketterman said it was a similar circumstance as the Baptist Bible College game in Springfield Feb. 7. Cottey won that game 59-50, but came out with a better approach Tuesday.

"We went through this with Baptist Bible College and didn't adjust very well," Ketterman said. "They dropped down on Lacy until we were able to hit some outside shots. Once we scored from outside, it opened up the inside. It all works together."

Mitchell and Kerri Shanks joined Leonard in double figures with 12 each. Nine different Comets got into the scorebook.

Katie Scott and Jessica Roseberry each scored 13 to lead Ozark.

With her 16 rebounds Tuesday, Leonard registered her 13th double-double of the season. She also pushed her season rebounding average up to 10.1 per game, to go with her 23.3 points per game average.

The Comets find out today when they will play Saturday, as they host a first-round Region 16 tournament game for the first time in school history. They will also find out who their opponent will be, as the seeding meeting for the district is today in Columbia.

The opponent will either be Florissant Valley or Forrest Park, teams Cottey has swept this season in two meetings each.

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