Lady Cobras fall hard to Limestone

The Lady Cobras’ basketball team faced two tough opponents recently and fell to both after winning its home opener against Morris College last week.

On Saturday, Nov. 22, the team fell to Charleston Southern by a score of 93-54. On Monday, Nov. 24, they hosted Limestone College in their first Conference Carolinas match up of the season. They fell to Limestone 92-74.

On Saturday in Charleston, both teams came out strong wanting to re-ignite a rivalry that has taken a 14-season break. The Cobras’ Jessica Hayes was quick to show the Lady Buccaneers that they were there to battle, scoring the first basket of the game, a three-point shot in the 19th minute of play. The three-point lead would be the Cobras biggest advantage of the match as Charleston Southern controlled the game.

The Cobras would once again come out ready to fight and scored the first goal of the second half. But, the Lady Buccaneers would gain their largest lead of the game in the 13th minute, however, off of a three-pointer to give the Bucs a 40-point advantage. 

The Lady Buccaneers would end the game with the most points they have scored since racking up 107 points in their first game of the 2007-08 season.

The Cobras had two players bring in double digits in scoring for them with guard Jessica Hayes bringing in 15 and Keisha Beavers adding another 12.

Rebounding was lead by Henna Koponen and Keisha Beavers who each grabbed five, followed by Jessica Hayes with four.

The Lady Bucs held the advantage in scoring as they shot 47.9 percent from the floor to the Cobras’ 33.9, but the Cobras were able to edge the Bucs in 3-point percentage with 31.6 and 28.1, respectively.

The Coker Lady Cobras opened their 2008-09 Conference Carolinas schedule Monday night with a 92-74 loss to the Limestone College Saints.

Limestone used strong perimeter shooting and double-digit scoring from six players to secure the victory.

As a team, the Saints shot 14 for 21, and 66.7 percent from beyond the arc, while Brittany Miller, Lauren Pace, Blanca Gonzalez, Whitney Todd, Tierney Burdett and Jessica Hart each scored in double figures.

Leading all scorers was Coker’s Lotta Aaltonen with 22 points, while Henna Koponen had 18 points and six rebounds.

Jessica Hayes was the third Lady Cobra to net double figures, scoring 16 points and grabbing five rebounds.

The loss drops Coker to 1-3 overall, and 0-1 in conference play, while Limestone improves to 2-1 overall, and 1-0 in the conference.

Coker returns to the floor after the Thanksgiving holiday on Sunday, Nov. 30, as they travel to Coastal Carolina for a 6 p.m. game.