Mayville State completes late comeback to win North Star women's basketball title
Mar. 3—MAYVILLE — Mayville State is headed to the NAIA women's basketball national tournament.
Jordan Zrust scored 29 points and the Comets overcame a nine-point deficit with five minutes left in the fourth quarter during a 61-59 win over Dakota State on Sunday in the North Star Athletic Association championship game at Lewy Lee Fieldhouse.
Dakota State's Savannah Walsdorf made two free throws with 55 seconds left in the game as Dakota State took a 56-52 lead.
Mayville State senior Erin Walcker, of Beulah, N.D., hit a 3-pointer with 43 seconds to go to pull the Comets within 56-55.
With 24 seconds left, Mayville State's Jes Mertens, a former Devils Lake standout, blocked a 3-point attempt by Dakota State's Angela Slattery.
Mertens secured the ball after the block and found teammate Mackenzie Hughes in transition. Hughes, a Thompson, N.D., native, scored on the fastbreak to give the Comets a 57-56 lead.
Zrust and Mertens hit free throws down the stretch as the Comets hung on. Dakota State's Miakken Vincent hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer but the Comets held a comfortable five-point lead before the shot.
By winning the North Star, Mayville State is guaranteed a spot in the NAIA national tournament, a field that will be revealed on Thursday at 7 p.m.
The NAIA national tournament is a 64-team field and will be released on the NAIA Youtube channel.
Each site for the first and second rounds will feature four teams and will play single elimination on Friday and Saturday, March 15-16.
The winner of the final game will go to the NAIA Championship Final Site in Sioux City, Iowa.
Zrust, the conference player of the year from Buffalo, Minn., finished 10-for-16 from the field against Dakota State and added 10 rebounds.
The Comets also landed Hughes (14 points) and Walcker (12 points) in double figures.
Slattery ended with 18 points to pace Dakota State, which remains eligible for the national tournament. The team's home site of Madison, S.D., is one of the hosts of the NAIA's first round.
The Comets, who beat NCAA Division I UND earlier this winter, improved to 23-3.
Mayville State's last defeat was by 23 points at Dakota State in late January.
