WOMEN'S BASKETBALL MAKES IT TWELVE IN A ROW AGAINST MARS HILL

Mars Hill, NC - Another day, another win for Coker Women's Basketball. This time, it came on the road in a tough environment against a Top-4 team in the SAC in the form of Mars Hill. Nonetheless, Coker pulled off the 62-58 victory over the Lions.

By The Numbers:

Final Score: Coker 62, Mars Hill 58
Records: Coker 19-1 (15-1 SAC), Mars Hill 13-8 (10-7 SAC)
Location: Mars Hill, NC | Stanford Arena

Top Performers

Shawnteanna Tillman: 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals
Mya Wasswa: 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals
Dasia Ferguson: 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals

How It Happened:

The Cobras looked hot out of the gate, led by Wasswa and Tillman's early shooting. Wasswa opened up the scoring with a made three, and, after a tipped-in bucket on the other end, they came right back down where Tillman hit a long-range jumper, putting them up 6-2 early. After being up as much as six points in the quarter, the Cobras took a five-point lead into the second period of play at 16-11.

The Lions weren't going away without a fight, clawing their way to a nine-point run to start off the period. Up 20-16, Tillman made a pair of free throws to stop the drought. She also made a lay-up for Coker's first field goal of the period to cut the lead to just two at 22-20. After much back-and-forth play, the Cobras found themselves leading 30-29 at the halftime break.

A slow third quarter to start, the teams started to trade buckets. One team would take the lead, and the other would reclaim it right back. After a miniature five-point run at the end of the period, Mars Hill found themselves on top at 40-37.

Down three a few minutes into the period, Wasswa tied it back up at 42-42 on a made three. Then, Mariah Mitchem came down the court less than a minute later and drained a three to take the lead at 45-42. Mars Hill drew it back even at 54-54 with under a minute and a half to go, but Kristynn Knight had the answer at the other end, quickly scoring to make it a 56-54 contest. After clutch play by Tillman, Ferguson, and Wasswa, the Cobras separated themselves and finished the contest as victors on the road.

Notables

The tandem of Wasswa and Tillman has been stellar all year, as shown in this contest. They, along with the rest of the squad, have this team on a twelve-game win streak and still undefeated in the new year (9-0). Prior to this contest, the Lions were 10-1 on their home court, so this was definitely a hard-fought road win for the 12th-best team in DII.

Up Next

The Cobras return home for a big weekday match-up against Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday this week for a 5:30 PM ET tip. That game will also fall on National Girls and Women in Sports Day and will serve as our Play4Kay game, so make sure to get out to the DeLoach Center to catch them in action!