During her senior season at Dassel-Cokato (MN) High School, Andi Gayner was trying to decide where she would play basketball next. She had plenty of opportunities from a wide range of schools within the region. Division II schools, NAIA schools, and Division III schools were all interested in having Andi come to their college and help their women's basketball program achieve success both on and off the floor. After plenty of thinking and pondering, as well as visiting with her parents, Andi chose to continue her basketball career at Mayville State University, where she is now in her senior year.

During the Comets recent road trip, Andi was able to achieve another scoring milestone. Andi scored her 1500th career point in the Comets 81-57 win at Dickinson State Saturday, Dec. 9. Andi finished the game with 18 points and eight rebounds for the game.

In the fourteen years that Comets head coach Dennis Hutter has been at Mayville State, only two other players have achieved the 1500-point mark. Liza Hoglo scored 1512 points for her career, and Hailey Longtin scored 1636 in her four-year career.  

"To me, being able to score 1500 points means that I have an incredible support system around me," says Gayner. "Without my teammates and coaches, I would have never been able to accomplish this."

"Andi is a great player, who has really learned to develop her game at the collegiate level," added Coach Hutter. "She is a rather undersized post player at the college level, but Andi has done an amazing job of adapting her game to her skill set, which has allowed her to achieve great success at Mayville State."  

"I definitely have to thank my teammates over the past three and a half years. I could not have done this without their support, both on and off the floor," said Andi. "I also want to thank all of the coaches who have helped me, especially Coach Hutter, who has helped me with becoming a better person as well as a better basketball player. Lastly, I thank my parents, Joann and Tom Gayner. They have been more supportive than I could have ever asked, and I could never fully express my appreciation for how much they have done for me."  

As Andi reflects on her career, she can't help but think about all the great memories she has made.

"I can't believe this is my final year of basketball at Mayville State," said Andi. "My time as a Comet has been nothing short of amazing. I have had the opportunity to play for some amazing coaches as well as play with some amazing player. If I had to do it all over again, I would ALWAYS choose to be a Comet."

"I am so proud of Andi and the impact she has made on the program both on and off the floor," said Coach Hutter. "She has turned herself into a great leader within our program and has helped the team to great success on the floor. Andi has helped to keep our winning tradition at Mayville State going."

The Comets have six consecutive winning seasons and are on their way to their seventh in a row this year. The record of the program since Gayner joined the team is 61-34 overall. The Comets are currently 9-3 overall and are ranked #16 in the country. The coaches in the NAIA named Andi an honorable mention All-American last year.