CONWAY, S.C. – After suffering their first loss of the season on a buzzer-beater last time out, the Coastal Carolina women's basketball team shot 53.7 percent (29-of-54) from the field to bounce back with a 76-72 home win over the Florida A&M Rattlers on day one of the Coastal Carolina Christmas Classic on Saturday at the HTC Center.
 
The Chanticleers, which led by as many as 14 points, improved to 9-1 overall on the season while FAMU fell to 0-9 on the season.
 
Coastal was led by a trio of Chants in double figures in Aja Blount with a team-high 21 points, followed by Angie Juste-Jean and Jordyn Newsome with 15 and 13 points each, respectively. Juste-Jean added a team-high seven rebounds, including three on the offensive end, while Newsome was tied for the team lead with three assists along with both Blount and freshman Kalaya Buggs.
 
The Rattlers, who shot 51.9 percent (27-of-52) overall from the floor for the game, including knocking down 9-of-19 three-point attempts, had four players in double-digit scoring in Dylan Horton with 16 points, Tia Bradshaw with 15, Anisja Harris with 14, and Malerie Brooks with 13.
 
The Chants outscored the Rattlers 40-28 in points in the paint, 19-13 in points off turnovers, and 10-7 in second-chance points on the day.
 
Coastal also held the rebounding edge at 32-23.
 
Florida A&M opened the contest with a three-pointer from Brooks to take a 3-0 lead before the home team picked up back-to-back layups in the paint from Blount and Juste-Jean to take a 4-3 lead less than two minutes into the first quarter of play.
 
The two teams would then trade baskets and the lead over the next three minutes of play until a 5-0 spurt highlighted by buckets from Freeman and Blount pushed the Chants' lead to three at 17-14.
 
However, FAMU would battle back to knot the score up two more times in the opening period at 17-17 and 19-19 before a Freeman free throw would put the home team on top at 20-19 after 10 minutes of play.
 
Coastal would refuse to relinquish the lead over the remainder of the first half, as the Chants were on fire from the field in the second quarter, shooting 10-of-14 (71.4 percent) from the floor overall to extend their lead out to as much as seven at the halftime break.
 
Blount led the way in the second quarter, going 5-of-6 from the field overall to score 10 of the Chants' 22 points in the period, as Coastal got a layup from Newsome to break a 22-22 tie early in the frame.
 
The Chants then pushed their lead out to as much as four points a total of six more times before closing the opening half of play on a 5-0 run on a three-pointer from Deaja Richardson and a layup down low from Blount to give CCU the 42-35 halftime advantage.
 
Out of the break, Coastal, and more specifically Buggs, scored the first four points to give the Chanticleers an 11-point at 46-35 with nine minutes to go in the third period before the two teams traded baskets over the next four minutes of play until a free throw by FAMU's Brooks put the visitors down just eight at 52-44 with 4:55 to go in the quarter.
 
After two made baskets each from both teams over the next two minutes of play, a Tia Bradshaw three-pointer saw the Rattlers cut the Coastal lead to five at 56-51 with just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
 
CCU answered with three-straight points on a fast-break layup by Newsome and a 1-of-2 free throws from Juste-Jean to go back up by eight at 59-51 before two FAMU free throws from the charity stripe at the end of the period put the score at 59-53 with 10 minutes to play in the contest.
 
The home team used its biggest scoring run of the game to start the fourth quarter, as the Chants used an 8-0 run highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers from Juste-Jean to roll out to a 14-point lead at 67-53 with 8:02 left to go on the game clock.
 
Following a pair of free throws by Blount, which put the Chants on top at 69-56, the Rattlers rattled off 11-straight points to cut the Coastal lead to just two points at 69-67 with 2:35 to go in the game.
 
However, a clutch three-pointer from Freeman at the 2:22 mark ended a Coastal scoring drought that saw the Chanticleers go nearly seven minutes without a made basket from the floor and pushed the lead back out to five at 72-67.
 
FAMU answered with the next five points, a three-pointer by Harris and a layup from Horton, to tie the game up at 72-72 with less than two minutes remaining in the final quarter of play.
 
On the Chanticleers' next offensive possession, Blount was fouled on the play and made the first of two free throws to put CCU up one at 73-72 with 57 seconds remaining.
 
Blount would miss the second free throw, but a big offensive rebound by Juste-Jean set allowed the Chants to get a jumper from Freeman on the same possession to extend the lead to 75-72 with 39 seconds left in the game.
 
After a FAMU timeout, the Chants' defense came up with a big stop, as Harris missed the game-tying three-point attempt while Freeman grabbed the defensive rebound and was immediately fouled.
 
Freeman would knock down the second of her two free throws with five seconds left in the contest to seal the 76-72 home win for the Chants.
 
Coastal will turn around to host the Radford Highlanders tomorrow in game two of day two of the Coastal Carolina Christmas Classic. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET following game one between Florida A&M and the College of Charleston.
 
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 www.GoCCUsports.com.