By: Jake Miller

HARTSVILLE, S.C.- Coker women's basketball dropped its South Atlantic Conference home contest to Wingate 66-51 on Wednesday (Jan. 4).

The Cobras and Bulldogs played a stingy defensive first quarter, with the visitors outscoring the Navy and Gold 18-10. The Cobras responded with a strong second quarter, despite falling behind by as many as 13. The teams went bucket-for-bucket for the first few minutes of the frame, before Coker closed out the final three minutes of the half on an 11-3 run. Trai Johnson and Iresha Cooper each neeted jumpers, and Kendra Lambert sunk a pair of free throws to keep the deficit at 10. Another bucket from Cooper got the Cobras within eight with 35 seconds remaining. In the dying seconds, Sydney Shull collected a defensive rebound before finding Lambert open in the corner. Lambert's three-pointer tickled the twine as the half expired, leaving Coker trailing only by five with momentum.

Wingate doubled Coker's scoring in the third quarter, taking an 18-point lead to the final frame. The Cobras clamped down defensively in the fourth quarter and held Wingate to seven points, outscoring the visitors by three.

Cooper led the Navy and Gold with 12 points, while Lambert added 10. Six other Cobras found the scorer's column, and Coker got 20 points chipped in from its bench.

The Cobras will hit the road on Saturday (Jan. 7) to take on Mars Hill. Tip-off is slated for 2:00 p.m.

McDonald's Player of the Game: Iresha Cooper