Lions fourth quarter comeback bid cut short in loss to Cobras
The Mars Hill women's basketball team (1-16, 0-12 SAC) battled valiantly, but fell short to Coker (5-16, 4-9 SAC) by a score of 78-70 Saturday afternoon on the road.
HARTSVILLE, S.C. - The Mars Hill women's basketball team (1-16, 0-12 SAC) battled valiantly, but fell short to Coker (5-16, 4-9 SAC) by a score of 78-70 Saturday afternoon on the road.
The Lions' 33-point fourth quarter was not enough to overcome the Cobras. With less than two minutes remaining in regulation, the Lions outscored Coker 11-4, but the Cobras' large lead provided enough cushion to secure the season sweep. Mariah Johnson, who hit the buzzer beating jump shot at the end of the game to pull within eight, scored 19 of her game-high 28 points in the final 10 minutes of play.
With just over three minutes played in the first quarter, Coker held a 4-3 lead. They would reel off nine straight points to go up by 10 with three minutes remaining in the frame. Coker held the 10-point lead, 17-7, entering the second quarter. Haliyah Sumter led all players with five points in the opening stanza.
Shay Jackson would pace the Cobra's offense, scoring seven of their 18 points as Coker outscored Mars Hill 18-10 in the frame. The Cobra's opened the quarter on an 8-1 run to go up 25-8 with 4:30 left in the half. Mars Hill found themselves down 35-17 entering the half.
Mars Hill gave up the first six points of the third quarter, but responded to score seven of the next 10 points, finding themselves down 44-24 with 5:03 left in the frame. The Lions scored eight of the last 14 points in the half to enter the final frame down 61-37. Shayla Smith led all players with nine points in the frame.
Jackson led the Cobras with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Sumter ended the game with 13 points and Saquita Joyner led all players with 11 rebounds.
Johnson led all players with 28 points, adding five rebounds, four assists and four steals. The trio of Smith, Tatum Boggs and Alexis Pardue each pulled down nine rebounds. They each ended the game in double-digits with 14, 11, and 12 points, respectively.
The Lions head to Jefferson City, Tennessee on Wednesday, February 6th to take on Carson-Newman. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
