MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – An impressive 45.2 percent shooting from the field and a 17 point lead at the 5:36 mark using a 31-12 run in the first half allowed the Coker Cobras to breeze past the UNCP women's basketball team, 65-59, despite a comeback effort in the second half by the Lady Braves in the first game of the Stair South Classic Tournament.

The Lady Braves (5-5) were led on the offensive charge by sophomore Jazmine Kemp as she held a team best 14 points and on the defensive side with nine rebounds including six offensive.

Despite a 10-point deficit at the half, the Black and Gold used more than 13 minutes to cut the shortage to five points on a drained jumper by junior Wayne Mack. 

Again at the 2:30 mark UNCP slipped back into within five points on an effective shot from behind the arc by senior Taylor Gallentine, and eventually the Lady Braves were down by only four points on the layup by Gallentine with less than 30 seconds until the final buzzer.

Coker (7-2) finished the game with a six point lead on the final two free throws by leading scorer Autumn Lau as she finished the game with 16 points including three 3-pointers. 

Coker closed out the game shooting 40.0 percent from the field, 34.5 percent from behind the arc and 77.8 percent from the charity stripe.

"We really started slow on both sides of the ball," said head coach John Haskins. "We struggled to score in the first half and dug ourselves a whole, but we did a good job of getting ourselves back in the game. We got to within a few points, but we were not able to take a lead and finish with a win because of the hole we dug ourselves earlier."

Mack and Gallentine contributed in double-digit scoring for the Lady Braves with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Gallentine pulled down seven rebounds, while Chandrica Fuller dished out six assists and put up seven points. The Black and Gold shot a combined 35.1 percent from the field and 22.7 percent from the 3-point line. 

Amber Lau added 14 points and registered five assists for the Cobras, while Hailey Yohn led the squad with nine rebounds and Priscilla Fenty and Autumn Lau each collected eight rebounds.

The Lady Braves will battle Tuskegee (3-5) on Monday in the final day of the Stair South Classic Tournament in the Centennial Center hosted by Georgia College.