Box Score Women's Basketball Falls at Birmingham-Southern, 68-53

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Sophomore Britni Ballard (Andalusia, Ala./Pleasant Home) scored a career-high 16 points in leading the Birmingham-Southern women’s basketball team to a 63-53 victory over Coastal Carolina, Wednesday, in Big South Conference action and the Panthers’ regular season home finale. The Panthers move to 11-14 overall and 6-7 in league play while the Chanticleers drop to 9-16, 4-9 in the Big South. In the first half, Coastal scored the first bucket of the game and the two teams went back and forth for the first 10 minutes, getting to the third tie of the game at the 10:19 mark at 11-11. After that point, the Panthers used a 9-1 run to go up by eight, 20-12, with 7:30 on the clock for their largest lead of the half. The Chants then put together a 10-0 run of their own to go up, 22-20, at the 3:21 mark. The teams traded baskets for the last three minutes and took a 24-24 tie into the locker rooms at halftime.   BSC came out strong to open the second period, going up by eight in the first 1:21 of the half. The Panthers steadily built on the lead, holding Coastal to 27.3 percent shooting from the field while shooting 57.1 percent on their end of the court. BSC’s largest lead of the game came twice in the last two minutes when the Panthers went up by 17, 66-49 and 68-51, before coming away with the 15-point win.   Coastal Carolina junior Kim Turner led all scorers with her 22-point, 15-rebound double-double. She went 8-of-13 from the field and 6-of-9 from the charity stripe, and her 15 boards is a new career high. Senior Courtney Brown and sophomore Alisha Dill also scored in double figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively, and Brown pulled down seven boards.   Ballard led the Panthers with her career-high 16 points, going 7-of-10 from the field and 2-of-2 from three-point land. Senior Martina Knotkova (Prague, Czech Republic/Genesee [N.Y.] CC), who was honored tonight along with senior Diana Isbell (Birmingham, Ala./John Carroll), and junior Stacey Anthony also chipped in 12 points apiece. Junior LaWanda Young (Sudan, Texas/South Plains College) led the squad with eight rebounds.   For the game, Birmingham-Southern was 47.4 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from beyond the arc. The Panthers were also 72.7 percent on free throws. Coastal Carolina shot 31.7 percent overall and 25.9 percent on three-pointers, going 66.7 percent from the charity stripe.   The Chants out-rebounded BSC, 43-34, while committing 16 turnovers as compared to the Panthers’ season-low 10.   The Panthers are on the road next for their regular season finale, traveling to take on UNC Asheville this Saturday, Mar. 5, at 2 p.m. EST/1 p.m. CST. Depending upon the outcomes of Saturday’s four Big South games, the Panthers could still host a first round Advance Auto Parts Big South Conference Tournament game next Tuesday, Mar. 8, whether or not they defeat UNCA.