Bruins fall to Comets in NSAA semis

WATERTOWN, S.D. -- NSAA Player of the Year Jordan Zrust scored 24 points and pulled down 17 rebounds to lead Mayville State University to a 76-59 victory over the Bellevue University women's basketball team in the NSAA Semifinals at the Watertown Civic Arena.

Mayville improves to 22-5 and will face top-seeded Dakota State University tomorrow at 1 p.m. with the winner securing the North Star's lone automatic bid to the 2023 NAIA National Tournament.

Bellevue falls to 17-12 with the loss. With one of the top non-conference schedules in the country and a signature win over Dakota State, the Bruins leave their fate in the selection committee's hands. BU will learn whether they have done enough to warrant an at-large bid when the 64-team National Tournament field is revealed at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Mar. 2.

After trading the first two baskets of the game, Mayville State ran off a 9-2 run to take an early 11-4 lead on a three-pointer from Zrust.

A pair of free throws from Mackenzie Hughes stretched the lead to 10 points with a pair of free throws at the 4:52 mark. Taylor Dement capped a 10-0 Bruin run as Bellevue battled their way back to tie the game.

MSU opened the second quarter in similar fashion, scoring the first 10 points of the period to take a 32-22 lead before Ashtyn Arnold stopped the bleeding with a jumper.

Faith Ross pulled BU within one possession, 38-35, with a bucket at the 1:15 mark but the Comets scored the final four points of the half, all coming via the charity stripe – a recurring theme in this one – to take a 42-35 lead into the locker room.

Mayville State shot 27-of-33 from the free throw line while Bellevue finished 8-of-14 at the charity stripe.

Both offenses stalled out a little in the third quarter with BU scoring the first four points of the stanza and MSU taking over three and a half minutes to score their first points. Mayville pushed the lead to 11 before taking a 56-47 lead into the fourth quarter.

The early moments of the fourth quarter also saw limited offense as neither team connected on a field goal attempt until Jes Mertens sank a jumper with 5:56 to play that gave the Comets a 59-48 lead.

Laura Jurek hit BU's first field goal of the fourth quarter with 3:31 to play to make it a 63-51 game. Bellevue never again got the deficit to single digits, ultimately falling 76-59.

Asha Scott finished with 15 points and four boards to lead Bellevue while Ashtyn Arnold added 10 points and pulled down eight rebounds, matching Jurek for the team-high in boards.

Zrust led all scorers with 24 points to go along with a game-high 17 boards. She was joined in double figures by Mackenzie Hughes with 18 and Erin Walcker with 14, respectively.