Comets downed in Region 16 tournament

JOPLIN ---- The third-seeded Cottey Comets were toppled by second-seeded MCC-Penn Valley 58-50 in the NJCAA D-2 women's basketball tournament semifinal at Ozark Christian College. Cottey concludes its season 8-13 overall.

The Comets came out strong, as they took a four point lead into halftime.

"All year we have struggled with too many turnovers," Comets head coach Stephanie Beason said. "Unfortunately, turnovers cost us the game Friday. We really struggled to handle Penn Valley's pressure all afternoon. We had 28 turnovers and they scored 25 points off our turnovers."

For Cottey, forward Amber Harper finished with a team-high 15 points, while sophomore Sydney Rose added 13. On a positive note, the Comets walloped Penn-Valley on the glass 49-24.

"We had a great group this year that really started to figure things out in the second half of the season and started working together really well," Beason said. "This program is going to miss the vocal leadership of the three sophomores (Harper, Rose, and Latasha Griggs), but we're looking forward to seeing the improvement of the freshmen from year one to year two."

Also for Cottey, freshman center Cheyenne Ortiz chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds.