Comets win two over the weekend

The Cottey College Comets played in the Ozark Christian College Classic this past weekend and came home with a pair of wins. On Friday, Cottey easily defeated Manhattan Christian 68-48 and on Saturday, the Comets held on to beat the host, Ozark Christian, 57-38.

The Comets were the superior team on Friday in almost every category. Cottey shot 44 percent from the field, 41 percent from behind the three-point line and had the edge in rebounding, 50-37. The Comets built a 32-23 lead at the break and continued to pull away throughout the second half.

Cottey got 15 points each from Jessica Roberts, Amanda Sanders and Brittany Smith. First-year player Kindall Huett led the team with nine rebounds and second-year guard Shanda Moon had five assists.

If there was any downside to the Comets' performance, it was at the free-throw line. The team was 3-for-15 from the charity stripe, for 20 percent shooting. If not for that, the score could have been even more one-sided.

On Saturday, the Comets tipped off against an Ozark Christian team that was really wanting to win in front of their home crowd. Ozark had lost the previous evening to William Penn University, but had a strong second half in that losing effort.

Cottey took advantage of a strong start in their game, however and built a 38-20 halftime lead. The 18-point advantage was good as Cottey and OCC both struggled in the second half. The Comets outscored the Lady Ambassadors 19-18 in an ugly second 20 minutes.

Comets' head coach Dave Ketterman said, "It wasn't pretty in the second half. But we executed about as well as we have all season in that first half."

Cottey was led by Roberts with 18 points. Smith added 11 of her own in the winning effort and first-year forward Alex Noble led the team with seven rebounds. The next game for Cottey will be on Wednesday, Nov. 19, when they face the junior varsity of Ottawa University. The game will tip off at 7 p.m., inside the friendly confines of Hinkhouse Gymnasium.