GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Coker University outscored Tusculum University 24-8 in the second quarter and went on to an 80-62 victory in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
Dominique Rodriguez led the Cobras (15-10, 9-9 SAC) with 16 points off the bench and Kamari Thompson grabbed a game-high 19 rebounds as Coker offset 39 percent shooting by forcing Tusculum into 25 turnovers while committing just six of its own. The Cobras scored 21 points off the Pioneer miscues while Tusculum had just two points off the Coker turnovers.
Ni'Kiah Chesterfield led the Pioneers (3-21, 1-17 SAC) with a game-high 24 points along with nine rebounds. She shot 10-for-13 from the field and 4-for-4 from the foul line for her second 20-plus point game of the season. Tusculum shot 49.0 percent (25-for-51) from the field and outrebounded Coker by a 40-38 margin.
Four players reached double figures for Coker, with Kristynn Knight adding 12 points and six assists, Dasia Lambert 11 points and Mya Wasswa 10. Mariah Mitchem had nine points and a game-high four steals for the Cobras, with Thompson scoring eight points to go along with her 19 boards in 29 minutes.
There were five ties in the opening quarter, which saw the Pioneers go up 15-11 on a putback by Chesterfield with 4:13 remaining in the period. After a basket from the Cobras' Dasia Ferguson on the next possession, the teams would play more than 2 1/2 minutes without a point until a jumper from Mitchem tied the game at 15-15 with 1:00 left. Tusculum would regain the lead at 17-16 on a layup by Chesterfield with 25 seconds to go.
The Pioneers held their last lead of the game at 19-16 on a layup by Nae Marion in the first minute of the second quarter, but the Cobras would run off 12 straight points to go up 28-19 on a basket by Ferguson with 6:15 left in the half. Tusculum would break its drought on a layup by Chesterfield with 4:50 remaining, but an 11-2 Coker run that including a three-pointer from Rodriguez pushed the Cobras' lead to 39-23 in the final minute of the half.
Coker led 40-25 at halftime behind nine points from Lambert and a game-high 10 rebounds from Thompson. The Cobras shot 40.5 percent (17-for-42) from the field but had just one turnover in the opening half as a team. Tusculum shot 46.2 percent (12-for-26) but did not attempt a foul shot and was 1-for-9 from three-point range. Chesterfield led the Pioneers with 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting in the opening half.
The Coker lead would bounce between 16 and 19 points for nearly the entire third quarter as the teams traded baskets in the frame. The margin would stay remarkably consistent well into the fourth quarter, when the Cobras went up by their largest lead at 80-58 on a layup by Jade Roberts with 1:27 to go.
Faith Silva had eight points and a season-high seven rebounds while playing on Senior Day for the Pioneers. Carleigh Wilson had eight rebounds for Tusculum, while Marion led the Pioneer bench players with five points in six minutes.
The Pioneers will play their final home game of the 2023-24 season on Wednesday, Feb. 28 against UVA Wise at 5:30 p.m. at Pioneer Arena. The Cavaliers (11-15, 7-11 SAC) were off on Saturday and are now tied for the eighth and final spot in the SAC Championship tournament field with Mars Hill, with each team having two games remaining.
