HARTSVILLE, S.C. --- Tanesha Stenson recorded
26 points and eight rebounds to lead the Coker College women's
basketball team to an 82-71 South Atlantic Conference win over
visiting Tusculum College Saturday afternoon at the DeLoach Center
in the season finale for both teams.
Tusculum senior Blakeley Burleson recorded team-highs with 15
points and six rebounds in her collegiate finale. Rainey Story,
who was also playing in her final college game, posted 14 points
off the bench, while going a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw
line.
Kristen McMillion added 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Maelyn Cutshaw tallied 12 points, also going 8-for-8 at the foul line. Shynese Whitener posted 10 points, while senior Brianna Mitchell finished with four markers in her final TC game.
Kelly Godbout accounted for 17 points for the Cobras (11-17, 7-15 SAC).
Coker jumped out to a 9-4 lead to start the game and led by as many as 34-26 following a three-pointer by Stenson with five minutes remaining in the first half.
The Pioneers answered with an 8-2 run, including five points by Story and a Burleson three-pointer to trim the deficit to 36-34 with 2:10 left in the period.
Coker answered with a three-point play from Lyric Levester, but back came Burleson with another trey to cut it back to two (39-37). Stenson followed with a made jumper before Cutshaw and Whitener each canned a pair of free throws to tie the game at 41-41 at the intermission.
The Cobras opened the second half on a 12-0 run in the opening 4:23 to take a 53-41 lead. With the home team ahead 60-49, Tusculum went on a 7-0 spurt to cut the deficit to 60-56 with 10:29 to go, a run sparked by five points from Burleson and a basket each by Whitener, McMillion and Cutshaw.
Coker followed with a 12-2 run to distance itself from the Pioneers, 72-58 with 6:53 remaining. The Pioneers would cut the Cobra lead to eight points on two occasions down the stretch, but that would be as close as they would get.
Tusculum (6-19, 6-16 SAC) finished the contest going 24-of-27 from the charity stripe for 88.9 percent.
The Cobras out-rebounded the Pioneers by a 38-28 margin, while Tusculum edged Coker in field goal percentage (44.9%-44.8%).
- TC -
