Lady Falcons Use Big First Half to Knock Out Lady Cobras

by Christian Stryker, SID Coker College
3/3/2009

Hartsville, S.C. - The Lady Cobras battled back from a 26 point halftime deficit, to come with six points with just minutes remaining in the game, but Pfeiffer used nine straight free throws down the stretch to take home a 97-87 win in the first round of the 2009 Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball Tournament.

The win advances Pfeiffer (9-19, 8-14) to the conference quarterfinal match-up on Wednesday, while Coker (11-16, 9-11) ends their season with the best record in Coach Carol Meegan's four year tenure at Coker.

The Lady Falcons dominated the Lady Cobras in the first half, 54-28, while Coker battled their way back in the final 20 minutes, out scoring Pfeiffer, 59-43. Coker's strong second half, helped even the statistics as well, as the Pfeiffer only held slight advantages in rebounding; 46-41 and shooting; 45.7 percent to 41.3 percent .

Henna Koponen (Vantaa, Finland) led all scorers with 29 points and five rebounds, while senior Jessica Hayes (Beaufort, SC) finished her career with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds. Lotta Aaltonen (Rauma, Finland) netted 19 points and had seven rebounds, with Alexis Blow getting a career high 14 points and four rebounds for the Lady Cobras.

Leading Pfeiffer was Devona Knight with a 16 point, 16 rebound double-double, with Dominique China pouring in 20 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Allegra Shanee Purnell had 18 points and four rebounds, with Nicole Maready quietly chipping in 14 points and pulling down seven rebounds from the post, with Curly Booth also getting into double figures with 12 points.

Pfeiffer will make a quick turn around and play the 1 seed Barton tomorrow night in the quarterfinals of the tournament, while Coker ends their season with their highest win total since 2003.