PEMBROKE – Despite a game-high 20 points from Jazmine Kemp, the UNC Pembroke women's basketball team fell to visiting Coker, 58-54, in its home opener on Thursday evening at the English E. Jones.

A myriad of turnovers once again hurt the Lady Braves (0-2), as the Cobras (2-0) scored 22 points off of 27 UNCP turnovers. The Cobras have now won two-straight against the Black and Gold, but UNCP still holds the upper hand in the all-time series, 13-3.

"I thought we were decent defensively, I thought we did a pretty good job for most of the game. The obvious thing that stands out is our inability to handle double teams and handle their pressure," said UNCP head coach John Haskins.

The Cobras made the first bucket of the game after a jump shot from Jessica Cohen, but the Black and Gold responded quickly with a layup from Kierra Haney to even the score. Haney's layup sparked a 16-3 run. Coker worked its way back, keeping UNCP scoreless for the next four minutes, and back-to-back made free throws from Tanesha Stenson gave the Cobras a 17-16 lead. The momentum stayed in favor of the Cobras for the remainder of the period, after a 3-point shot from Hailey Yohn put the Cobras up 26-22. UNCP made the final two shots of the half, as a free throw from Jonissa Monley and a layup from Ashley McCray cut the Black and Gold's deficit to 28-25 heading into the intermission.

Despite trailing at the half, UNCP shot 43.5 percent (10-23) from the field in the first 20 minutes, compared to just 28.2 percent (11-39) shooting from the Cobras. 

Coker remained on top for the first seven minutes of the second half, but Haney drained a layup and then made good on the three-point play to give UNCP a 34-33 lead. The remainder of the contest stayed close, neither team able to jump ahead by more than five. With less than two minutes to go, Haney drilled a jump shot, making it a one-point contest, 51-50, in favor of the Cobras. The final minute played out as a battle of free throw shooting. The Cobras were perfect from the line in the final 28 seconds, then Wayne Mack connected on a layup at the buzzer, but it was too little too late for the Black and Gold.

Kemp led all players with 20 points on 7-15 (46.7 percent) from the floor, while Haney chipped in another double-digit scoring effort with 17 points. The Cobras finished with two players in double-digit points, including Hailey Yohn with 12 points and Jessica Cohen with 11 points.

UNCP took the slight edge in the rebounding column, 41-40, with team-best eight board from Kemp. The Coker defense prevented the Lady Braves from executing their perimeter game, but UNCP was able to limit the Cobras to shooting just 18.2 percent (6-33) from behind the arc.

"We had 27 turnovers and the other thing is we were 0-13 from the 3-point line. I thought we got a lot of good looks with our good shooters, we just couldn't knock them down."

UNCP looks to regroup and rebound on Wednesday as the Lady Braves host regional foe Fayetteville State (1-0) in a 5:30 p.m. contest inside of the English E. Jones Center.

To watch the full game click HERE.