Dominant Second Half Pushes Cobras Past Royals

HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Coker College women's basketball team put together a dominant second half for a 82-56 victory over the visiting Queens University Royals Monday (Dec. 18) night in South Atlantic Conference action. Coker outscored Queens 21-11 in the third quarter and 29-11 in the final frame of play for the comfortable victory. 

After a slow start to the game that had Coker trailing 34-32, the Cobras started the third quarter with a 7-2 run to regain a 39-36 at the 6:56 mark. Hayley Kropp tallied two layups, Erin Houser knocked down a jumper, and Hannah Stull added a free throw during the run. The Navy and Gold continued to build on their lead and held a 53-45 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. 

With the Royals still hanging around early in the fourth quarter, the Cobras put together an impressive ten-point run to pull ahead by 20 points with 3:19 remaining. Erin Houser recorded five of the ten points during the run, while Shay Jackson contributed three points and Aloni McFarland added two. 

Kropp led the way for the Navy and Gold with 22 points that included a 5-9 mark from beyond the three-point arch. Kropp also made an impact on the defensive end of the court with a team-best four steals. Houser continued her recent success with her second double-double (13 points, 14 rebounds) in the past two games. Jackson provided an offensive spark for the Cobras from the bench, knocking down 11 points off 4-5 shooting from the field and a perfect 2-2 mark from three-point range. As a team, the Navy and Gold finished 53.8 percent from three-point range, their best mark of the season. 

The Cobras will take a couple of weeks off for the holidays and be back in action on Jan. 3 when they host Newberry in a South Atlantic Conference matchup at 6 p.m.

McDonald's Player of the Game - Hayley Kropp