Falcons advance to quarterfinals

March 3, 2009

Hartsville, SC – The Pfeiffer University women’s basketball team prevailed in the first round of the 2009 Conference Carolinas Women’s Basketball Tournament.  The Falcons led by 26 points at half time and used nine straight free throws down the stretch to take home a 97-87 victory over the Cobras of Coker College on Tuesday evening.  The Falcons advance to a quarterfinal match-up Wednesday evening against the Barton Bulldogs.

The Falcons dominated the Cobras in the first half, 54-28. Despite Coker battling back in the final 20 minutes, outscoring Pfeiffer 59-43, the Falcons were still able to hold on for the win. Pfeiffer won the battle of the boards 46-41 and edged out the Cobras in shooting, 45.7 percent to 41.3 percent.

Leading Pfeiffer was Devona Knight (Woodbridge, VA) with a 16 point, 16 rebound double-double.  Domonique China (Durham, NC) poured on 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds.  Shanee Purnell (Woodbridge, VA) had 18 points and four rebounds, while Nicole Maready (Advance, NC) quietly chipped in 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds from the post. Carly Booth (Advance, NC) also got into double figures with 12 points.

Henna Koponen (Vantaa, Finland) led all scorers with 29 points and five rebounds, while Jessica Hayes (Beaufort, SC) added a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds. Lotta Aaltonen (Rauma, Finland) netted 19 points and had seven rebounds.  Alexis Blow (Greenville, NC) chipped in 14 points and four rebounds.