MONTGOMERY, ALA. – The Coastal Carolina University women’s basketball team closed out the non-conference portion of its schedule dropping a 59-51 decision to Alabama State Monday, Dec. 29 at the ASU Acadome. Junior Amanda Stull tallied 15 points with only one field goal, going 13-of-18 from the charity stripe.  Sophomore Kate Jasinski was the second Chant in double figures with 14 points. The loss moves the Chants to 8-5 overall, while ASU improves to 3-8 on the season.

 

The Chants stepped onto the court testing out their seventh starting lineup of the season, leaving sophomore Katie White off the list for the first time this season. The game started off slowly, with the first basket coming from ASU’s Assunta Fullgham three minutes into the contest as the teams played to a 4-4 start, with 15:47 remaining in the half.

 

The Hornets grabbed the lead with an 11-2 run in the next three minutes and pulled ahead 15-6. The Chants found themselves down 24-12, cut the deficit to six at 25-19, but entered the break trailing 29-21. ASU shot 44 percent in the first half, while Coastal Carolina ended the frame shooting 35.3 percent.

 

Early in the second half, junior Kendra Reynolds hit a jumper to pull within six points again, but the Hornets responded with six quick points to push the lead to 39-27 with just under 15 minutes left to play. Alabama State took its largest lead of the game after another jumper for Fullgham at 48-33, with 7:35 left in the game.

 

Coastal Carolina finally cut the lead to single digits and pulled to within five points as freshman Olivia Irick stepped behind the arc and knocked down a triple, making the score 56-51 with 35 seconds left to play. The Chanticleers fouled ASU on the next possession, but LeEra Lewis hit both foul shots. Irick’s second attempt from three-point land was unsuccessful and Lewis was sent to the free throw line again where she hit one of two shots, pushing the final score to 59-51.

 

Coastal Carolina managed to shoot 33.3 percent while ASU finished the contest shooting 46.7 percent. The Chanticleers were outrebounded by the Hornets 39-29.

 

The Chanticleers will start a clean slate when they begin Big South play Saturday, Jan. 3 at 2 p.m. hosting UNC Asheville at Kimbel Arena.