Women’s basketball: Comets rally to beat Alma, 76-68

OLIVET, Mich. – Seniors Stefanie Lang and Carli Reid each posted a double-double and freshman Ayren Parrish scored a career-high 14 points to help the Olivet College women's basketball team rally to beat Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association rival Alma College, 76-68, tonight at The Cutler Event Center in Olivet.

Lang posted game-highs in points (15) and rebounds (14) for her 10th double-double of the season. Reid scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her second double-double in 2014-15. In addition, junior Leighann Thilo contributed a career-best eight points. Junior Morgan West added nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc.

In the first half, the Scots led by as many as 11 points on two occasions, with the last time being 26-15. Olivet came back with an 11-3 run to trail by three points, 29-26, at the 5:02 mark. Alma led 35-31 at halftime behind 43.3 percent shooting from the floor. Eight of its 13 made baskets in the opening 20 minutes were three-pointers.

The Comets opened the second half with a 6-1 run to take their first lead in the game, 37-36. Olivet extended its lead to six points, 42-36, before the Scots scored 10 straight points to go up 46-42 with 11:54 remaining in the game. The Comets countered with five consecutive points to regain the lead, 47-46. The teams traded baskets and Alma led 50-49.

West then nailed back-to-back triples to put Olivet ahead, 55-50. Alma did tie the game at 59-59 at the 6:09 mark. Parrish responded with a three-pointer, and the Comets never relinquished the lead. The eight-point margin at the end was Olivet's largest lead of the game.

For the game, the Comets shot 45.0 percent (27-of-60) from the floor, with six three-pointers, and 64.0 percent (16-of-25) from the free throw line. The Scots made 26-of-57 (45.6 percent) baskets, with nine three-pointers, and 7-of-14 free throws (50.0 percent). Olivet out-rebounded Alma, 43-32.

Grace Wheeler led the Scots with 14 points. Mallory Pruett added 13, while Reanna Zink had 10. Wheeler and Lauren Higgins each grabbed six rebounds.

The Comets travel to play Trine (Ind.) University Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.

NOTES: Lang is 15 points shy of scoring her 1,000th career point. When she does pass that mark, Lang will be only the fifth player in school history to reach that plateau. She also needs only four baskets to move into fourth on the all-time list for field goals made.