Playing its first game in 11 days, the University of La Verne fought hard but was held without a field goal over the final 4:42 as it fell to Coe College 85-81 at the D3hoops.com Classic at South Point Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
La Verne led 46-42 at intermission before the Kohawks went up 66-60 on a Lindsey Buckles three-pointer with 12:04 remaining. Consecutive treys from Amanda Copas and Megan Musashi tied the contest at 66-66 with 11 minutes to play.
A back-and-forth battle ensued over the next five minutes of action as the lead was exchanged on three occassions. La Verne's Lindsey Foster made a layup with 4:42 remaining to put the Leopards on top, 79-77. A pair of free throws from Musashi pushed the lead to 81-77 with 3:41 to play.
Coe (6-4) responded with consecutive layups to tie the game at 81 with 2:42 left, and baskets from Kayla Waskow and Megan Hayes put the Kohawks up 85-81 with 1:13 to play en route to victory.
The Kohawks shot 52.9% (37-70) from the field and held a 48-29 rebounding advantage for the contest.
Waskow went 10-11 from the field to post a game-high 22 points while Hayes added 20 on 10-of-17 shooting.
Foster led La Verne with a team-high 21 points, finishing 9-of-12 from the field. Musashi added 10 points followed by Kimmie Fung with eight points.
The Leopards (4-5) conclude action at the D3hoops.com Classic Saturday as they take on Lake Forest in a 10:00 am tip off.