Cobras Welcome Newberry for Saturday Night SAC Tilt

By: Jake Miller

HARTSVILLE, S.C.- Coker women's lacrosse resumes South Atlantic Conference play on Saturday night (Mar. 18) when they host the Newberry College Wolves. Video and live stats will be available at www.cokercobras.com. 

The Cobras (5-2, 2-0 SAC) fell to East Stroudsburg at home on Tuesday (Mar. 14) 11-9. Haley McCusker led Coker's scoring effort with four goals, while Faith Kent and Claudia Jenkins each scored twice. Kent also dished out a team-high three assists. Marabeth Durden also recorded one goal in the contest. McCusker recorded her 100^th career goal in Coker Navy and Gold, while Kent tallied her 100^th Coker career point in the contest. Coker won the draw control battle 12-10, with Mackenzie Baker collecting a team-high five and Lindsay Ordemann grabbing four. Coker scooped up 17 ground balls on the day, with Durden and Kaitlyn Kimball each picking up three. Cassie Williams (5-2) made 15 saves in the cage.

McCusker leads Coker in scoring this season with a team-high 31 goals. The mark is the second-highest total in the conference. Kent's 21 goals are tied for sixth in the conference, while the sophomore is second in the league in assists with 15. The two are also back-to-back in the top five of the league's points category. McCusker's 37 are tied for second, while Kent's 36 are fourth.

The Cobras are also racking up the defensive statistics, with Kimball third in the conference in ground balls (36) and leading the league in caused turnovers (27). Durden is tied for fifth in the league in ground balls (25), tied for fourth in draw controls with teammate Baker (26) and tied for fifth in caused turnovers (11). Ordemann is tied for seventh with 10 caused turnovers. In the cage, Williams is third in the league in total saves with 70, and also third in save percentage, stopping 52.2 percent of shots against her. The rookie's 9.14 goals against average is third-lowest in the league, while she is fifth in total goals against, having allowed 64 through seven games.

The Wolves come into the matchup 4-5 overall and 0-2 in South Atlantic Conference play. Rachel Dillon leads the conference in goals with 33, and is tied for second in the league with 37 total points. In the cage, Brandy Bowman leads the league in total saves with 107. She is also fourth in the conference in save percentage, stopping 45.7 percent of shots against her.

Opening draw is set for 6:00 p.m. at the Coker College athletic field. Tickets for the game are $5 for adults, $3 for students and free to all Coker faculty, staff and students.