MURFREESBORO, N.C. – The regionally ranked Chowan Women's Basketball team picked up their seventh win of the season behind a career-night from Mariah Coker to defeat Francis Marion, 80-75, in non-conference action at home on Tuesday evening.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Chowan 80, Francis Marion 75

RECORDS | Chowan 7-1, Francis Marion 3-2

LOCATION | Murfreesboro, N.C. (Helms Center)

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Mariah Coker scored a career-high 28 points on 9-12 shooting.  Coker drained a school-record tying seven threes going a program best 7-7 from behind the arc.  Coker also added a career-high eight assists and added five steals to the mix.

Dhyamond Crenshaw chipped in with 16 points.  Newly named CIAA Player of the Week, Chantel Roberts, scored 12 points and grabbed nine boards.

The Chowan defense swiped 14 steals on the evening leading to 19 Patriots' turnovers.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Quarter:

Chowan jumped out to an early 6-2 lead as Dhyamond Crenshaw connected on two baskets along with help from Joanne Williams.  The Hawks and Patriots traded baskets with the Hawks never giving up the lead.

Mariah Coker connected on a layup followed by a fastbreak bucket by Dhyamond Crenshaw opened the contest up to a 12-6 lead midway through the quarter.

The Patriots would fight back with a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to one, 12-11 before the Hawks ended the quarter on a 6-1 run.  Mariah Coker connected once from the charity stripe along with a layup by Kaylah Henderson.  Coker ended the scoring with a triple to give the Hawks an 18-12 lead.

Second Quarter:

Francis Marion came out of the break with a small run to bring the contest to a one possession game.  Mariah Coker would once again knock down a trey to give the Hawks some breathing room, 21-16.

The Patriots would counter with a 10-3 run to take the lead at 26-24 with 4:01 to play in the half.  Danielle Weldon found Mariah Coker for the three to give the Hawks the lead at 27-26 and never gave it back.  Coker's triple sparked an 8-0 run as Danielle Weldon notched a bucket followed by Chantel Roberts draining a three with 2:02 remaining to give the Hawks a 32-26 advantage.

With time winding down in the half, Mariah Coker sent a half-court heave towards the basket as the buzzer sounded and found the bottom of the net to give the Hawks a 37-32 advantage heading into the half.

Third Quarter:

The Hawks' lead would push their advantage up to eight in the third quarter, 48-40, as Dhyamond Crenshawopened the quarter with a bucket off a Mariah Coker pass.  Coker tacked on another three along with Chantel Roberts to extend the lead.

Midway through the quarter, a pair of free throws by Joanne Williams and back-to-back baskets by Dhyamond Crenshaw allowed the Hawks to see their largest lead of the contest, 54-42, with 3:16 remaining in the quarter.

Francis Marion continued to chip away at the deficit as the Patriots ended the quarter on a 10-2 run trailing the Hawks 57-53 heading to the final quarter.

Fourth Quarter:

The Patriots rallied to tie the contest up at 64-all at the 5:27 mark but was unable to overtake the lead as a Mariah Coker eight point spurt gave the Hawks back the momentum with back-to-back triples to push the lead to six, 72-66.

The Hawks would keep the Patriots at-bay as FMU was able to cut the contest to 76-73 with just over a minute left.  Jada Lee knocked down a jumper to seal the contest for the Hawks as Francis Marion added two points from the stripe in the final minute of action.

UP NEXT

Chowan hits the road once again for the final non-conference contest before CIAA play as the Hawks travel to Mount Olive on December 6.