Lady Cobras Upset Barton, 84-81

by Christian Stryker, SID Coker College

Hartsville, S.C. - The Lady Cobras picked up a huge upset in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action on Wednesday night, as Coker defeated the first place Barton Lady Bulldogs, 84-81, behind the stellar offense of the Finish connection of Henna Koponen (Vantaa, Finland) and Lotta Aaltonen (Rauma, Finland) and the clutch defense of Jasmine Alston (Sumter, SC).

The win improves Coker to 7-12 overall, and 6-8 in the conference and it marks the first time in Coach Carol Meegan's tenure at Coker that the Lady Cobras have defeated Barton. With the loss Barton not only falls to 14-4 overall, and 11-3 in the conference, but they also fall from their top spot in the conference standings for the first time all season.

The Lady Cobras used a solid first half five point lead, as well as clutch free throw shooting to over take the Lady Bulldogs. Barton held a narrow edge in almost every major stat category, including out rebounding the Lady Cobras 35 to 33 and hitting 4 of nine from beyond the arc, but Coker out shot the Lady Bulldogs from the floor, shooting 55.8 percent compared to Barton's 44.3 percent and they had 24 points from the line, with Barton only managing 15.

Koponen had a game high 27 points with five rebounds, while Aaltonen had 24 points and five rebounds. Alston had a career high 11 points with five rebounds and three big steals, with Jessica Hayes (Beaufort, SC) dropping in 10 points with eight assists and five rebounds.

For Barton, Esty Flores had 26 points, four assists and five steals, while Jamila Johnson had 20 points and Jannetta Robinson had 12 points and nine rebounds. Sharnita Alston was dominating on the boards with 12 rebounds and six points.

Coker returns to the floor on Saturday, as they host Belmont Abbey at 2:00 p.m., while Barton will travel to Erskine.