Hickory, N.C. - In the 50 years of Lenoir-Rhyne women's basketball no team had ever won 16 consecutive games, until today. Head coach
Emry Tsitouris and her Lenoir-Rhyne Bears defeated #12 Coker 89-67 to win their 16th straight contest, breaking the record of 15 set during the 1979-80 season.
Lenoir-Rhyne outscored Coker 57-29 in the middle two quarters to pull away from this high powered Cobra squad.
Abigail Brown led the team with 23 while
Ralee Bare scored 17 on 5-6 shooting from the field.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: #22 Lenoir-Rhyne 89, #12 Coker 67
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (21-4, 17-2 SAC), Coker (20-5, 15-4 CAC)
Location: Hickory, N.C. | Shuford Arena
STORY OF THE GAME:
- Bears found themselves in a hole quickly as the Cobras jumped out to a 16-4 lead in the game's first six minutes.
- Four straight free throws by the Bears in the final minute of the first quarter put them within four at 20-16 after ten minutes.
- Seven straight points from freshman Ralee Bare gave the Bears the lead early in the second quarter.
- Bare closed the first half by hitting two of three free throws after getting fouled at the buzzer. Bare had thirteen first half points and LR led 41-29 at the break.
- Lenoir-Rhyne turned it up in the third quarter as a 13-0 run gave the home side their biggest lead at 73-48.
- Coker did shot 55% in the fourth but could not cut the into Bears lead, falling by 22.
STATS OF THE GAME:
- Abigail Brown was 7-13 from the field, 4-7 from three, and 5-5 from the free throw line.
- Aaliyah El scored 14 points, reaching double figures for the 11th consecutive game.
- Ralee Bare added a team high four assists and three steals to her 17 points.
- LR had nine different players hit a three tonight as the Bears hit 14 as a team.
- Lenoir-Rhyne was 29-64 (45.3%) from the field, 14-31 (45.2%) from three, and 17-22 (77.3%) from the free throw line.
- Coker was 24-50 (48%) from the field, 8-14 (57.1%) from three, and 11-18 (61.1%) from the free throw line.
- The Bears scored 29 points off 21 Cobra turnovers.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- The Bears swept the season series between these two teams for the third time in the last four years.
- Lenoir-Rhyne remains one game ahead of Lincoln Memorial in the SAC standings.
- Lenoir-Rhyne joined fellow SAC schools Carson-Newman, Coker, Lincoln Memorial, and Wingate in the first NCAA Regional Ranking.
- Lenoir-Rhyne is now 3-0 against ranked opponents this season with two of those wins coming against Coker.
- Emry Tsitouris is the winningest first-year head coach in program history.
UP NEXT: Lenoir-Rhyne will host Tusculum on Saturday for their annual Play4Kay game. The Pioneers are just 2-23 (2-17 SAC) adn fell 83-46 vs. UVA Wise earlier today. The Bears defeated the Pioneers 109-71 on January 17th in Greeneville. Tip-off for the regular season home finale is at 2:00 pm.