Aleena Hobbs is one of those rare college basketball players who can play just about any position on the floor and do it well.

She proved it Tuesday night.

Hobbs spent most of her time at power forward Tuesday and finished with a double-double as Coe topped Cornell, 70-59, at Eby Fieldhouse to give Nate Oakland a victory in his first game as head coach.

Hobbs, a 5-foot-10 sophomore from Cedar Rapids Washington, scored a career-best 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help the Kohawks begin their season on a positive note.

Hobbs is also an effective player in the backcourt or on the wings, but the Kohawks needed her close to the basket against the Rams. She made 10 of 13 shots from the field, hit 7 of 10 free throws, dished out two assists, collected one steal and nailed her only 3-pointer.

"She's just so versatile," Oakland said. "She's able to do a lot of things on the interior and on the perimeter. You just have to pick your poison with her."

Hobbs averaged better than 13 points for Coe last year as a freshman. She more than doubled that in her first game as a sophomore.

"We had an emphasis on getting it into the post," Hobbs explained. "And when I got into the post I did a good job of finishing and making good passes to my teammates."

It was especially important for Hobbs to assert herself near the basket because Ashley Stulken, a 6-foot-1 center from Xavier, missed the game for Coe with a bruised knee.

Coe was clinging to a 54-48 lead with 7 1/2 minutes left when Hobbs hit a layup, got fouled and completed the three-point play for a 57-48 margin. Allie Wirth gave the Kohawks a 59-50 advantage with a left-handed bucket and Hobbs drilled a 3-pointer to make it 62-50 with six minutes remaining.

The Kohawks never trailed by fewer than 10 points again.

Jenna Lehman tossed in 18 points for Coe. Wirth snared 14 rebounds and Mickey Hansche scored 11 points.

"I thought our effort was really good. I'm really pleased with how hard we played," Oakland said.

The Kohawks committed only 12 turnovers in the 40-minute game, a positive sign for a team that was plagued by turnovers last season.

"For the first game out, we were very happy with that," Hobbs said. "That's definitely one of our goals, to keep the turnovers down and we did that very well."

Maggie Hogen led Cornell with 18 points. Kellie Kuzmanic scored 13 points for the Rams.

CORNELL (59): Kuzmanic 5 0-0 13, Hogen 9 0-0 18, Rinehart 1 0-0 2, Grana 3 0-0 8, Teut 0 1-2 1, Bisso 2 0-0 4, Neilly 2 0-0 6, Salman 1 0-0 3, Poulos 1 0-0 2, Kemmer 0 0-0 0, Matthews 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 1-2 59.

COE (70): Hobbs 10 7-10 28, Lehman 7 1-4 18, Lehmann 1 0-0 2, Wirth 1 3-4 5, Hansche 4 0-0 11, Holmes 0 1-2 1, Boltz 0 0-0 0, McCrary 2 0-0 5. Totals 25 12-20 70.

Halftime - Coe 31, Cornell 28. 3-point goals - Cornell 8 (Kuzmanic 3, Grana 2, Neilly 2, Salman 1), Coe 8 (Lehman 3, Hansche 3, Hobbs 1, McCrary 1).