GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Coker University defeated Tusculum University 72-45 in the South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
Shawnteanna Tillman finished with 15 points and Kamari Thompson added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the second-ranked Cobras (5-1, 1-0 SAC), who were coming off a 72-69 loss to Augusta on Tuesday night. Coker forced 34 turnovers by Tusculum and had 19 offensive rebounds which led to 20 second-chance points.
Angela Gomez scored a career-high 10 points off the bench for the Pioneers (0-4, 0-1 SAC), who were 9-for-9 from the field in the third quarter but shot just 8-for-38 the rest of the game to finish at 36.2 percent (17-for-47) from the floor. Abbi Douglas finished with seven points and Aisha Patel collected six points, six rebounds and a pair of blocked shots for the Pioneers.
Coker never trailed in the game, building a 17-8 lead after one quarter and a 30-15 advantage at halftime. Tusculum trailed 9-1 early and did not make a field goal until Patel nailed the first of her two threes with 4:57 left in the opening period. Tusculum was held scoreless for the final 3:56 of the half as three-pointers from Kristynn Knight and Cayanna Stanley stretched the Coker lead to 15 at the break.
Tusculum was just 5-for-24 from the field in the first half (20.8 percent) with Patel leading with six points for the Pioneers. Coker was paced by seven points from Tillman in the first half, but the Cobras shot just 30.0 percent (12-for-40) as a team.
In the third quarter, the Pioneers turned the ball over 10 times but could not miss from the field, hitting all nine of their shot attempts. Gomez was 3-for-3 from the floor for Tusculum, with two baskets apiece from Dora Van Rijs and Ema Nagyova and one each from Martina Garofalo and Josie Horner. The hot shooting produced a late 11-2 Tusculum run that cut a 24-point deficit to 50-35 after three quarters. Coker would go on a 19-4 run in the fourth quarter and led by as many as 30 points in the final minutes.
Van Rijs had five points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Pioneers along with a career-best four steals in 26 minutes. Garofolo added four rebounds along with a game-best four assists for the Pioneers, while Julia Szwichtenberg played nine minutes off the bench for Tusculum in her first action of the season and contributed four points and five rebounds.
A total of 14 different players reached the scoring column for the Cobras, with seven points apiece from Ja’Kea Brunson, Knight and Stanley and six from Dasia Ferguson. The Coker bench outscored Tusculum by a 25-22 margin, with Janay Legagneur contributing seven rebounds in 18 minutes for the Cobras.
Coker finished the game at 35.6 percent (26-for-73) from the field and 4-for-18 from three-point range, while going 16-for-23 at the foul line. Tusculum was 4-for-16 from beyond the arc and shot 7-for-8 at the stripe, with Coker outrebounding Tusculum 41-38.
The Pioneers will return to non-conference action on Wednesday, Dec. 3 when King visits for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. The Tornado are 1-4 heading into Wednesday’s matchup, after opening Conference Carolinas play on Tuesday with a 66-60 loss at Belmont Abbey.
