Final Stats

CONWAY - For the second consecutive home game junior guard Ced Gibson surpassed 20 points, scoring a career-high 26 to lead the Coastal Carolina women's basketball team to a 61-40 win over Charleston Southern Tuesday night at The HTC Center.

The win is Coastal's (9-15, 4-11) ninth straight against Charleston Southern (11-14, 6-10), and remains its longest active winning streak against a Big South opponent as the Chants sweep the season series against the Bucs for the fourth straight year dating back to the 2012-13 season.

Gibson's 26 came on 10-of-20 from the field, including a trio of 3-pointers, and 3-of-4 from the line. Gibson also led all players with four assists and five steals, and finished second for the Chants with five rebounds.

Gibson's previous career best was 24 points, accomplished twice this season, both at The HTC Center. The first came on Dec. 1 against Campbell, and the second in Coastal's last home game against High Point on Feb. 9.

Nicole Isaacs added 16 points to reach double figures for the fourth straight game, and eighth time in Coastal's last 10. Isaacs led Coastal beyond the arc with four 3-pointers, while shooting 5-of-10 overall from the floor and 2-of-4 from the line.

Gibson and Isaacs combined to score 69 percent of Coastal's total points, as Kennedy Archer was the next closest Chant with seven points.

The Chanticleer defense kept all of CSU's shooters in single digits, and limited to Bucs to shooting just 25.9 percent from the field. Coastal, meanwhile, shot over 40 percent for the third time in its last four games, and its seven 3-pointers were the most since draining nine at Campbell on Jan. 30.

Coastal reached 40 rebounds for the second straight game, and won the battle on the boards 40-35.

Coastal jumped out to a quick 11-4 lead over the first five minutes thanks to an eight-point effort from Gibson, who started the game 3-of-5 from the field with a free throw. The Chants then went scoreless for the final 4:59 of the quarter -- a stretch that included seven turnovers -- as CSU narrowed the scoring gap to 11-8.

The sparse scoring continued for both teams into the second quarter as neither side got on the board for almost five minutes. Gibson finally broke the drought at 5:17 of the quarter as she became the first player to reach double figures with her ninth and 10th points of the night on a short jumper.

The remainder of the half consisted of a field goal and free throw for each side as the teams combined for 36 first-half turnovers. Dionne Parker rolled in a layup at 2:08 and Jas Adams hit a free throw at 0:48 for the Chants, while CSU's scoring came on a free throw from Monique Maximilien at 4:08 and a 3-point buzzer beater from Nayla Long with a second remaining before halftime.

The scoring floodgates finally opened in the third quarter as Coastal nearly doubled its first-half total with 26 points. Isaacs and Gibson accounted for 18 of those points, including an almost two-minute stretch where Isaacs drained 11 straight for the Chants. CSU, meanwhile, opened the second half shooting an anemic 20 percent from the floor on 3-of-15 as Coastal doubled up the Bucs, 42-21, heading into the fourth quarter.

The 21-point margin carried to the final buzzer as each team scored 19 points over the final 10 minutes. Coastal did, however, manage to pull ahead by 27 points, the largest margin of the night, with 1:31 left in regulation after Isaacs got her final point of the night on a free throw.

The Chanticleers return to action on Saturday to play their penultimate regular season road game at Liberty, with opening tip set for 4 p.m. at the Vines Center. The Flames took the first meeting this season 65-63 at The HTC Center on Jan. 19 to extend their win streak against the Chants to 45 games.