Cottey College Comets drop tough contest at home

Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Natascha Lord scores two of her 17 points for the Cottey Comets in Monday's game against LSU-Eunice. --Photos by Ralph Pokorny/Daily Mail

After an 0-3 start to the year, the Cottey College Comets basketball team finally started to play at the level head coach Dave Ketterman knew they were capable of.

Starting at the Allen County Classic tournament when they beat the Fort Scott Community College Greyhounds, the Comets went on to win three of their next four games including two in a row in the Cottey College Classic over Rhema Bible College and Redlands Community College heading into Monday night's contest against the Lady Bengals of LSU-Eunice. The 20th-ranked Lady Bengals came into the night as the heavy favorite and showed no intentions of letting the Comets extend their winning streak to three games in a row as they took the victory by a final score of 66-53.

"There's a reason that this is a legit top-20 team," Ketterman said. "This is not just an afterthought team, they are highly talented. They can just go over the top of us and score."

Head coach Michael Bari's Lady Bengals came into the night with a strong 6-3 record and showed right from the outset of the contest that they have a legitimate claim to a top-20 spot in the national rankings. They were able to impose their will on the Comets throughout the duration of the contest and were nearly able to score at will, though they did give up a substantial amount on the free-throw line. The Comets shot 75 percent from the stripe in the contest while the Lady Bengals struggled, shooting just 63 percent.

The Lady Bengals wasted little time getting started as they jumped out to a 15-4 lead early. The Comets struggled with their field goal shooting right from the outset of the contest and that allowed Eunice to maintain their lead in double digits throughout the first half.

Cottey freshman Lynley Ruble scores two of her seven points to tie the game at 15 in the first half of Saturday's game against the Redlands Community College Cougars.

The Comets were able to convert on just seven of their 38 shots in the first half as they saw the game quickly slip away. The Lady Bengals, however, shot a strong 16-for-38 to take a 13-point lead at 37-24 into the locker room at the break.

"It's one of those games where you need to make a few of those bunnies that fell out in the first half," Ketterman said. "If you close the gap there, maybe the basket gets a little smaller for them."

The second half didn't get much better for the Comets as they continued to struggle from the field, hitting just 10 of 43 shots in total with none from beyond the arc. The Comets were able to maintain the deficit at eight to 14 points throughout the final 20 minutes, however, thanks mostly to the Lady Bengals shooting just 61 percent from the charity stripe.

"We missed some open looks tonight," Ketterman said. "We did not hit open looks when it was pitched out tonight and to beat a team like that, you've got to do it."

Natascha Lord led the way for the Comets offensively as she shot 6-for-19 from the field and 6-for-8 from the stripe for a total of 17 points. Alex Noble wasn't far behind as she finished the night 4-for-15 from the field and 6-for-8 from the stripe for 14 points. Amanda Sanders nearly equalled that effort on the night as she finished with 13.

For Eunice, three players finished the night in double figures as well, led by Sierra Goldwire with 14 points, followed closely by Amanda Fontenot with 13 and Twanisha Tillman with 12.

With that loss, the Comets fell to 3-5 on the year and will now take more than a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday before heading back out on the road for a rematch against Rhema Bible College in Broken Arrow, Okla., on Dec. 1.

Cottey 69, Redlands 54

Natascha Lord's 16 points led the Comets as they earned their second win in as many days at the Cottey College Classic tournament Saturday afternoon over the heavily favored Redlands Community College Cougars. The Comets had five players in double figures on the night and Alex Noble finished with the game's only double-double as she hauled in 13 rebounds.

Head coach Jay Niehues' Cougars struggled from the field as they shot just 21 percent and from the free-throw line, making just 16 of 26 shots. The Comets took full advantage of those struggles to earn their second consecutive victory and third in four games.

The Cougars' game rested on the shoulders of sophomore Hannah Weldon throughout most of the day as she finished as one of just two players in double figures with 18 points to lead all scorers.

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