Gaffney, S.C. — The Limestone University Women's Basketball had a stellar first half performance against the #9 nationally-ranked Coker University Cobras team but could not follow up that showing in the 3rd quarter, conceding a 19-0 run, that the Saints were never able to catch up to again. The visitors, 1st place in the South Atlantic Conference by some distance, took the road victory 75-62 and their first two-game sweep of the Saints in 20 years. With this loss, the Saints drop to 13-11 (9-11 SAC), while the Cobras improve to 22-3 (18-2 SAC).  

Key Players:  

• Kalisha Hill (Saluda, S.C.) got back into an offensive rhythm, with 24 on an incredible 9-11 from the field. In addition, she accounted for 7 Rebounds and 3 Steals.  

• Graycie Poe (Bicknell, In.) added 13 points and 5 Assists with a Block in transition to add to her performance. 

• Reagan Kargo (Summerfield, N.C.) boosted the Saints in the first half with 10 of her 12 points on the day. 

STORY OF THE GAME:  

First Quarter:  

• The Cobras wasted no time to show the Timken Center what had led them to the top of the SAC standings; a suffocating defense and relentless high pressing led Limestone to commit 3 Turnovers within a minute of play and Coker took the first lead, 2-0, with a layup. 

• But the Saints quickly settled into the match and responded with 3 layups of their own to move to 6-2. After the Cobras got a layup back, Hill had two more layups and Kargo connected on a Jumper to push the lead to 12-4. 

• The quarter continued to be a back-and-forth affair, Poe converted on a floater with a foul and then capped of the period with a Jump Shot as the clock expired. 

Second Quarter:  

• The 2nd quarter started very similar. Coker started with a Jump Shot, but Kargo drained the first triple for either team on the night and Aniyah Jones (Grovetown, Ga.) followed that up with a finger roll layup, pushing the lead to 9 at 25-16. 

• Coker went on a small run, cutting the lead to 3, but Megan Watson (Tampa, Fla.) and Hill, with yet another one of her heavily contested layups gave Limestone some cushion. 

• As Coker cut the lead to 3 once more, Kargo had the ball in her hands, holding for the last possession and drawing the traditional 3-point play on the And-1 with 3 seconds showing on the clock. Limestone took a 37-31 lead into the break. 

Third Quarter:  

• The second half started well for Limestone as it looked like the game would slow down a bit compared to the high-energy first half. Poe and Hill connected on layups for the Saints. 

• But that picture was deceiving as Coker proceeded to go on a 19-0 run over the course of the next 5 minutes. The Cobras lifted their intensity, forced Turnover after Turnover in the press and took advantage of some missed layups for the Saints. Shawntenna Tillman, leading scorer for the visitors, contributed two 3-pointers on the way. 

• A 3-pointer by Poe broke that run but Coker retained their lead, capping of the quarter with another triple to take their first double-digit lead of the night at 58-48. 

Fourth Quarter:  

• The 4th quarter was slower-paced to start with. The closest Limestone took the Cobras was 7 points, when Madison Clark (Kennesaw, Ga.) and Hill followed each other up on layups, but a conversion on an offensive Rebound swiftly extinguished that hope. 

• Coker managed to pull away from Limestone, backed by numerous Free Throws. Coker would end up doubling the homestanding Saints 26-13 in attempts at the foul line. 

• The final points of the game came with 01:48 left to play, with Hill converting on 2 Free Throws to trim the final score to 75-62. 

Up Next:  

Limestone will go back on the road and travel the short distance up to Salisbury, N.C. to take on Catawba in a rematch from January 25. The game will tip off at 5:30 pm on Wednesday Feb. 19th.