Feb. 6, 2010

Final Stats

Coastal Carolina University's women's basketball squad defeated High Point in a 67-60 Big South Conference thriller on Saturday, Feb. 6 in Kimbel Arena. The Chanticleers improved to 13-8 on the season and a 4-5 mark in the Big South, while the Panthers fell to 13-9 overall and 6-3 in conference play.

The teams exchanged early leads four times before High Point went on an 8-2 run, including a pair of buckets by Shamia Brown, to pull ahead by five at 12-7 with just over seven minutes gone in the contest. After trading baskets, the Chanticleers caught fire, sparked by sophomore Olivia Irick's three triples to a 16-3 run over the next 3:24 to go up 25-17. The teams exchanged points throughout the remainder of the half before the Chanticleers entered the intermission with a 32-26 advantage. Coastal shot 40 percent (12-for-30) from the field, including an impressive 66.7 percent (4-for-6) from beyond the arc. High Point shot 48 percent (12-for-25) from the floor but was scoreless from the three-point line in the first half. The Chants outrebounded the Panthers in the opening period 22-11.

The second half of the game was full of scoring runs on both ends of the floor. The Chanticleers opened the stanza strong, scoring the first seven points in just over two minutes, including back-to-back layups by senior Devin Rivers, to extend the lead to 13 at 39-26. However, the visitors responded by scoring the next 10 points, spurred by four from Amy Dodd, to trim the lead to just three at 39-36 with 15 minutes to play.

Coastal came back with six quick points in just over a minute from a pair of buckets by junior Katie White and two free throws by Rivers to make it 45-36 with 13:17 remaining. The Chanticleer lead stretched to 10 at 51-41 with 10 minutes to play and then, with the lead at nine, the Panthers had a 7-2 run to make the difference four at 55-51 with 6:20 to play. Coastal responded by going scoring seven of the next eight points to again extend its lead to 62-52 with just under four minutes remaining.

High Point did not give up as the guests battled back and trimmed the lead to a one- possession game at 63-60 with 1:08 on the clock. After a High Point miss and offensive rebound, junior Katie Ahaus intercepted a pass, forcing the Panthers to foul. Ahaus made the second of her free throws to make it a four-point margin with 20 seconds to play. The Panthers were unable to hit anything in the closing seconds and the Chants sealed the win by going 4-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final 20 seconds.

The Chanticleers shot 42.9 percent (25-for-56) from the field and a solid 55.6 percent (5-for-9) from beyond the arc. High Point finished the game 49 percent (24-for-49) from the floor and 2-for-4 from the three-point line. Coastal outrebounded High Point 37-28, but a major factor was success at the free-throw line, as the Chants outscored their opponents 14-10 at the stripe.

The Chanticleers had four players tally double-figures, led by junior Katie White's career-high 17 points. Junior Sydnei Moss had her fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while also grabbing a career-high six steals. Rivers posted her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Irick scored her 12 points by going a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.

High Point was paced by Jazmin Cromartie's game-high 19 points, while Dodd was the only other Panther in double figures with 14 points and seven rebounds.

Coastal will finish a two-game home stand on Monday, Feb. 8 against UNC Asheville at 7 p.m. High Point will continue on the road to take on Charleston Southern also on Monday, Feb. 8