Staff report

SALISBURY — Back in December 2019, before COVID turned the world upside down, Taisha DeShazo etched her name in the Catawba record books with a 42-point explosion,  a performance that made her the national player of the week and propelled her toward first team All-South Atlantic Conference honors.

The 22-year-old DeShazo is still competing at Goodman Gym, taking advantage of the COVID redshirt, but she never really got it rolling last season and has been relatively calm this season, but that deadly outside stroke is starting to come back and her confidence is rising.

She had her biggest game in a long time on Wednesday to lead Catawba to a 77-58 South Atlantic Conference win against Coker. She shot 10-for-14 from the floor, 3-for-4 on 3-pointers, and scored 26.

Now she’s averaging a team-leading 14 points per game.

The key stat for Catawba’s women is usually turnovers. They forced 22, while committing 10.

The Indians shot 7-for-16 on 3-pointers and 41 percent from the field.

Lyrik Thorne made two 3-pointers, scored 14 and had five assists as Catawba (7-0, 5-0) stayed undefeated.

Janiya Downs had 13 points and seven rebounds.

Sara McIntosh scored 11, and Shemya Stanback had seven points.

Coker fell to 2-4 and 1-3 in the league.

Coker     12     17    20   9 — 58

Catawba  16   23   24   17 — 77

CATAWBA SCORING — DeShazo 26, Thorne 14, Downs 13, McIntosh 11, Stanback 7, Wampler 3, Davie 3.