WOMEN'S BASKETBALL'S HISTORIC SEASON COMES TO AN END IN THE ELITE EIGHT

Pittsburgh, PA - An incredible season (to say the least) has met its end - the Cobras fall to Cal State - Dominguez Hills in the Elite Eight of the DII National Tournament.

By The Numbers
Final Score: CSUDH 82, Coker 66

Records: Coker 29-6 (24-5 SAC), CSUDH 35-1 (21-1 CCAA)
Location: Pittsburgh, PA | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse

Top Performers
Shawnteanna Tillman: 14 points, 8 rebounds
Mya Wasswa: 15 points, 2 steals, 1 block
Dasia Ferguson: 10 points, 6 rebounds
Janay Legagneur: 11 points

How It Happened

The first points were scored by CSUDH, but the Cobras were able to get on the board with a Kristynn Knight layup to make it 3-2 early in the first quarter. It was an extremely defensive start to the period, with the next bucket not coming until the 5:45 mark to make it 5-2 in favor of the Toros. After CSUDH took a 7-2 lead, Kamari Thompson laid it up to make it a 7-4 game. After falling down 13-8, Ferguson took matters into her own hands by scoring the next four points to bring it to 13-12. At the end of the period, however, it was the Toros with a 20-14 lead.

The start of the second quarter was a great one for the Cobras, with Ferguson getting another bucket to go down and Wasswa following it up with one of her own to bring it to 20-18. A bucket by CSUDH was followed by a huge three from Wasswa to make this a one-point game. After some back-and-forth, the Cobras took their first lead of the night at 25-24 off a Thompson lay-up.

Unfortunately, the Cobras ended the quarter on an 18-2 run to take a fifteen-point lead into the halftime break. A large part of this was due to Tillman only playing two minutes in the first half with three early fouls to keep her off the court. It was this cushion that the Toros used to put this game away, winning this contest by sixteen at 82-66 and ending this amazing Cobra run.

End-of-Season Recap

The Cobras' run may have ended here, but not before shattering records and taking names along the way. Here is a list of notable things that this 2024-25 Coker WBB squad did this season

• 29 wins in a season, shattering the previous record for wins in a single season (19)
• The Cobras went on a 14-game win streak, demolishing the record for a previous win streak (7)
• The Cobras played lock-down defense all year, setting the record for the fewest points allowed per game at 58.8 (previous was 65.1)
• 2024-25 SAC WBB Regular Season Champions
• First-ever NCAA Tournament bid
• First-ever Elite Eight appearance
• First appearance in the SAC Final
• Melissa DeVore earned SAC Coach of the Year
• Tillman was named to the First-Team All-SAC and the SAC Player of the Year
• Wasswa (Second-Team) and Thompson (Third-Team) were also given regular-season honors
• Tillman and Wasswa were named to the SAC All-Tournament Team
• Tillman, Wasswa, and Thompson were named to the DII Southeast Region All-Tournament Team
• Tillman ends the season with 603 points, shattering the record for points scored in a single season (489)
• Wasswa ends her Cobra career with 1,020 points
• Thompson brought down 335 boards this season, breaking the previous single-season rebound record of 334 set by herself last season
• In total, Thompson has 669 rebounds through her two years here at Coker. In just two seasons, she ends this year sitting at fourth all-time in Coker WBB career rebounds. With a similar year next season, she is on pace to break into the 1000 rebound club and put herself first all-time.
• Ferguson went 12-12 from the charity stripe in a game against Mars Hill on December 27th to set the record for single-game free throw percentage on the most makes

As you can see, this was a year to remember for not just Coker Women's Basketball, but for Coker Athletics as a whole. As Coach DeVore stated in an interview, what they have done this season has breathed life into the Cobra Athletic Department. Why not Coker? Why not Hartsville, SC? Thanks to this team, we can all ask ourselves those two questions.