Hansche catches fire, Coe women get revenge on Cornell

MOUNT VERNON - The 3-pointers kept falling for Mickey Hansche, and the Coe women's basketball team pulled away from rival Cornell for a 60-48 victory Tuesday night.

'We haven't beaten them for a while,” Hansche said. 'So it felt really good to get a solid team win.”

Cornell had won the previous two meetings in the rivalry by more than 20 points. But after a slow first half in which neither team hit 30 percent from the field, the Kohawks whipped passes around the perimeter until they found open shooters. Most often, that was Hansche. The sophomore from Iowa City High hit 4 of 5 3-pointers to score a game-high 15 points.

'My teammates did a good job pushing the ball in transition and finding me,” she said. 'I like the ball in my hands, and when I'm open I'm going to shoot it.”

Hansche's 3-pointer put Coe up 33-22 with just more than 16 minutes to play in the game. Cornell pulled to within six, but another Hansche outside shot made it 56-46 with less than five minutes to play.

'They lost Mickey a few times and she was able to make her shots,” Coe Coach Randi (Peterson) Henderson said. 'Everybody likes a good 3-point shooter. She gives us a spark.”

Coe center Megan Hayes added 10 points and nine rebounds. Guard Allie Wirth got into the lane often for eight points and four assists to go with her game-high 11 rebounds. Former Regina star Jenna Lehman had six points and six rebounds. Reigning MWC player of the week Taylor Dicus kept Cornell close with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Coe improved to 4-3, and Cornell fell to 4-4.