Richmond’s Three-point Shooting Sinks Coastal, 79-67

Friday, November 29

Conway, S.C.

2:00 PM ET

Coastal Carolina University

4-1,0-0Sun Belt

Richmond

5-2,0-0Atlantic 10

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Richmond	14	13	28	24	79
Coastal Carolina	18	14	17	18	67

Photo by: Bob McCool, Coastal Athletic Media Relations

11/29/2019 7:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Coastal Carolina women’s basketball drops first contest of the season Friday afternoon

By: Royce Dunnivan

CONWAY – Sophomore forward Aja Blount scored 19 points to lead Coastal Carolina, but Richmond made 10 three-point field goals in the second half to pull away for a 79-67 win over the Chanticleers in a Friday afternoon matchup in the Coastal Carolina Thanksgiving Classic at the HTC Center. The loss was the first of the season for Coastal, which is now 4-1 while the Spiders improved to 5-2.

Blount got scoring help from senior guard DJ Williams, who had 18 points to go along with team-highs of seven rebounds and six assists. Senior guard Torrie Cash reached the 1,000-point mark for her college career with 14 points and senior center Naheria Hamilton added 11 points and six rebounds.

Richmond got career-high and game-high from Emma Squires, who had 22 points, including 15 in the second half. Squires was one of four players in double figures for the Spiders, which rallied from a 10-point deficit late in the first half. UR guard Kate Klimkiewicz had 10 of her 16 points in the first half, but the Spiders were just 3-of-17 from beyond the arc.

Richmond hit 10-of-14 treys in the second half and built a 15-point lead at 74-59 with 3:25 to play.

Senior guard Caitlin Roche hit a three-pointer to spot Coastal to its largest lead at 30-20 with five minutes remaining in the first half, where Blount and Williams each had eight points to pace Coastal to a 32-27 edge at the break.

That changed in the second half when Richmond found the mark from long range and moved in front to stay on consecutive three-pointers, making the score 44-40 late in the third period. In contrast, Coastal, which came into the game hitting 33 percent of its long-range shots, was just 2-of-10 for the game and didn't make a trey in the second half. The Chanticleers also went without points from their leading scorer, junior guard Zacharyia Esmon, who came into the contest averaging 15 points a game.

The Chanticleers had the edge in rebounding, 35-30, and outscored the Spiders, 32-22, in the paint, but Richmond countered by having five different players hit three-pointers.

Coastal will now host George Mason at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 1, in its second game of the Thanksgiving Classic, and then return to the HTC Center to face UNC Pembroke at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5.

For complete coverage of CCU women's basketball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalWBB (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.