Coker Earns First SAC Women's Basketball Tournament Title in Program History; Thompson Named Tournament MVP
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
11 | 10 | 17 | 8 | 46 |
|
|
15 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 60 |
Team Stats
| Game Statistics | Carson-Newman | Coker |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (17-55) | (24-61) |
| Field Goal % | 30.9% | 39.3% |
| Rebounds | 28 | 49 |
| Assists | 2 | 4 |
| Turnovers | 10 | 15 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 7 | 7 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 2 | 12 |
| Pts in the Paint | 26 | 20 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 5 | 6 |
| Bench Pts | 14 | 3 |
ROCK HILL, S.C. (theSAC.com) – For the first time in program history, the Coker Cobras have been crowned SAC Tournament Champions. The Cobras took home the 2026 crown in convincing fashion with a 60-46 victory over Carson-Newman in Saturday's championship at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center.
Kamari Thompson was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after scoring 10 points and adding 18 rebounds in the title game.
Shawnteanna Tillman led all scorers with 23 points and added six rebounds. Kristynn Knight added 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
The Cobras ran out to a 9-2 edge and rode that early run to a 32-21 advantage at the break. Tillman and Knight each had 10 points in the opening half, and the suffocating Coker defense held Carson-Newman to 8-of-27 shooting in the first 20 minutes. Thompson nearly had a double-double in the first half, finishing with eight points and a game-high 11 boards, while Coker held a commanding 29-13 advantage on the glass.
A triple by Tillman at the 4:41 mark of the third quarter swelled the Coker lead to 15 at 43-28.
Tillman continued to fill it up, hitting her fifth 3-pointer to close a 12-0 run with 6:25 left in the fourth quarter to make it 60-40, the largest lead of the game.
The Eagles were paced by 11 points from Emily Gonzalez but were held to a frigid 30.9 percent shooting from the field.
Coker had a 49-28 advantage on the boards and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds. The Cobras never trailed in the contest, and head coach Melissa DeVore's program captured its first SAC regular season title in 2025 before adding its first tournament crown with Saturday's win.
Coker earned the automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division II Tournament. The field will be announced Sunday night on NCAA.com.
All-Tournament Team
Ciara Harris, Anderson
Kamil Collier, Lincoln Memorial
Jennifer Sullivan, Carson-Newman
Mattie Nuckolls, Carson-Newman
Shawnteanna Tillman, Coker
Kristynn Knight, Coker
Kamari Thompson, Coker (MVP)