HARROGATE, Tenn. — Coker College received a pair of clutch shots in pivotal moments to upend the Lincoln Memorial University Lady Railsplitter basketball team, 61-59, in the finale of the Holiday Inn Middlesboro SAC/Conference Carolinas Challenge on Saturday at Tex Turner Arena. The loss drops the Lady Railsplitters to 1-1 after the opening weekend of the season, while the Cobras kickoff their season with an unblemished 2-0 mark.
The Lady Railsplitters extended their late advantage to three points with a couple of made free throws from senior Kelsey Bradford (Metropolis, Ill.) with 33 seconds remaining in regulation. Coming out of the inbounds play, the Cobras drove down court and knotted the game at 51-51 with a three-pointer out of the hands of Hailey Vohn with 13 ticks left on the clock. The Lady Railsplitters would get a game-winning attempt off in the waning seconds, however, Bradford’s three went begging as the two teams went into overtime.
In the overtime period, LMU found themselves facing a 59-54 deficit with 3:14 remaining before rallying with a free throw and made field goals from Kalasia Green and Stevie Yazzie to square the game at 59-59.
The Lady Railsplitters had a chance to take the lead with 17 seconds remaining in the overtime period, but the Cobras would retain a tie and earn possession after a pair of missed free throws. The Cobras went on to win the game with a jumper from Angie Lawrence with three seconds to play. LMU was unable to get another attempt at scoring as they fell in overtime to the Cobras, 61-59.
MaRanda Boddie (Springfield, Ohio) led the Lady Railsplitters with 12 points and nine boards. Boddie also tallied two blocks and a steal in the losing effort.
Mariah Richardson (Lawrenceville, Ga.) came off the bench to spark the Lady Railsplitters with ten points on 4-9 shooting from the field. Kelsey Bradford added nine points, five assists and a team-high four steals.
Ralissa Nelson provided a strong effort on the glass with eight rebounds to go along with six points on 2-3 shooting from the three-point line.
The Lady Railsplitters were forced into 22 turnovers in the contest as the Cobras tallied 17 steals as a unit, paced by Priscilla Fenty’s five steals. Fenty added eight points and a game-high 13 boards to play a key role in Coker’s overtime victory.
The Cobras were paced offensively by Hailey Yohn’s 17 points on 5-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Angie Lawrence added 15 points on 3-5 shooting from behind the three-point line. Amber Lau and Jasmine Evans poured in 11 and 10 respectively for Coker College.
The women’s basketball team will look to rebound on Wednesday, as they host Bryan College in a nonconference match up in Tex Turner Arena. That game is set to tip at 7 p.m.
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Paced by 21 points from senior Ralissa Nelson, the Lincoln Memorial University women’s basketball team opened the 2012-13 season with a 71-62 win over Erskine College Friday night in first game of the Holiday Inn Middlesboro SAC/Conference Carolinas Challenge.
Nelson (Janesville, Wis.) hit five of her six 3-point attempts in the game and went 4-4 from the charity stripe while grabbing four rebounds and notching two steals to lead LMU to victory.
Junior Kalasia Green (Laveen, Arz.) made an impressive debut for the Lady Railsplitters with 12 points, three rebounds and five assists. She rounded out her performance by matching a team-high number with three blocks and a steal. Senior Kelsey Bradford boasted nine points while leading all players with five steals.
Erskine was paced by Chelsea Frazier’s 20 points on 9-21 shooting from the field. Frazier filled the stat sheet in the game, tallying eight rebounds, three steals and a block. Andrienne Bannerman also had a strong offensive outing for the Flying Fleet with 19 points on 8-14 shooting. She added six rebounds but also compiled six turnovers to lead all players.
Tara Potter grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, narrowly missing recording a double-double with seven points.
Despite facing as large as a four-point deficit in the first half, the Lady Railsplitters closed the opening 20 minutes of play on a 10-3 run to go into the half holding a 39-32 lead.
The Lady Railsplitters quickly extended their advantage to 13 with a three-point bucket from Nelson with 17:23 left on the clock. Facing a 45-32 hole, the Flying Fleet responded by closing the gap to two with a 19-8 run over the next seven minutes of action.
LMU would bend but never relinquished the lead, answering with an 11-0 run of their own, capped by a pair of free throws from Kalasia Green to extend their lead to 64-51 with 5:07 remaining.
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