HARTSVILLE, SC - The Lenoir-Rhyne Women's Basketball team continues to turn heads in the conference as they earned their sixth straight win, dominating #10 Coker 83-57 on Wednesday night. Ralee Bare led the Bears offensively with a career-high 27 points while Madilyn Winterton and Abigail Brown combined for 27 points and 16 rebounds.  

This marks the Bears first victory against a ranked opponent since February 14, 2024, against #12 Catawba. This doubled as the Bears first top-10 win since their 71-52 victory against #10 Lander on November 13, 2022.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 83, #10 Coker 57 
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (11-4, 7-2 SAC), Coker (13-2, 8-1 SAC)
Location: Hartsville, SC | DeLoach Center

STORY OF THE GAME:

• Ralee Bare's three-point play ended a strong first quarter that saw the Bears lead 24-14 after the first 10 minutes.
• Amiya Porter made the Bears' first made three of the night, extending the lead to 29-14 with over eight minutes remaining in the half. 
• The Bears nailed back-to-back threes midway through the quarter to extend their lead to 39-15.
• Amiya Porter beat the halftime buzzer with a layup, capping off a 27-8 quarter for the Bears.
• Lenoir-Rhyne led 51-22 at the break and shot over 50.0% from the field in the first half, including a 5-for-10 mark from beyond the arc.
• Abigail Brown and Elysea Brown hit back-to-back layups to extend Lenoir-Rhyne's lead back to 31 two minutes into the third quarter. 
• The Bears outscored their counterparts 23-17 in the third to take a 74-39 lead into the fourth.
• Coker began the fourth quarter on a 12-5 run, cutting the Bear lead to 79-52 with five minutes left in regulation.
• The fourth was the only quarter the Cobras (19-8) outscored the Bears, but the Bears held on for the upset victory on the road.

STATS OF THE GAME:

• Lenoir-Rhyne finished the game shooting 29-for-63 (46.0%) from the field and 5-for-11 (45.5%) from beyond the arc.
• Coker had a slight advantage in the rebound battle (36-35) but LR dominated the turnover battle 28-14.
• Ralee Bare (27), Abigail Brown (15), Madilyn Winterton (12), and Aaliyah El (11) all finished in double figures.
• Aaliyah El and Ralee Bare went 14-for-15 (93.3%) from the charity stripe. 
• The Bears tied their season-high 18 steals while also generating 44 points in the paint.
• Amiya Porter and Elyseia Brown each finished with five steals.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• This is the 27th all-time meeting between the Bears and Cobras.
• Coker is coming off a Southeast Regional Championship last season.
• Lenoir-Rhyne now leads the all-time series 20-7 and collected their first win at Coker since the 2023-24 season.
• Abigail Brown (38.8%) and Elysea Brown (38.5%) entered tonight top-five in the conference in 3PT%.
• The 83 points was the most Coker has allowed this season while their own 57 was the least amount they had scored.
• Ralee Bare has hit double figures in three of her first six games as a Bear.
• Lenoir-Rhyne has forced teams to commit 25+ turnovers in a game five times this year. 
• This is the eighth straight game that Abigail Brown has scored 13 or more points.

UP NEXT: Lenoir-Rhyne will look for their seventh straight victory this Saturday as they travel to Greeneville, Tenn., to face off against the Tusculum Pioneers. Tusculum (1-14, 1-8 SAC) dropped their sixth straight game tonight, falling 74-64 at UVA Wise. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.