CONWAY, S.C. – Arin Freeman and Aja Blount combined for 54 points to lead the Coastal Carolina women's basketball team to an 85-64 win over former conference foe Radford in the final game of the Coastal Carolina Christmas Classic in Conway, S.C. on Sunday. With the win, the Chanticleers closed out non-conference play with a 10-1 record. The loss dropped the Highlanders to 4-7 on the season.
 
The true freshman point guard Freeman recorded a career-high 29 points to lead the Chanticleers while Blount chipped in with 25 points of her own. Blayre Shultz scored a season-high 15 points, while Janae Camp grabbed a game and season-high 13 rebounds. Radford was led by Bryonna McClean and Kyanna Morgan, who finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively. RU's McClean grabbed a team-high six boards.
 
Coastal jumped out to an early 10-0 lead off of five points from the duo as Blount scored the first points of the contest followed by a layup and an and-one for Freeman, just before a Shultz three-point shot. Angie Juste-Jean finished the run with a pair of free throws. Vanessa Blake put the Highlanders on the scoreboard with a layup to stop the CCU run.
 
Blount (3-of-3 for 12 points) and Freeman (2-of-4 for six points) combined to score 18 of the first 24 Chanticleer points to give CCU a 10-point advantage at the end of the first quarter at 24-14. The duo combined to go 8-of-15 from the free-throw line as they put RU in foul trouble early. Radford's Morgan scored six points to keep the Highlanders in the game early going 2-of-3 from three-point range.
 
The two teams played even in the second quarter with Radford hanging with the Chanticleers score for score. After a pair of Highlander layups cut the Chants lead to six, CCU's Tyra Brown, Blount, and Shultz followed with back-to-back-to-back three-three-pointers to push the Coastal lead to 15 at 33-18.
 
CCU answered every Radford run with one of their own to push the advantage as high as 17 in the second quarter before RU closed out the first half with a 7-0 run to trim the Chants lead to 46-36 at the intermission.
 
Blount pushed Coastal's advantage to 12 on a pair of free throws to open up the second half, right before the Highlanders went on a 19-8 run to cut the lead down to one point with 2:40 left in the third quarter. RU's Morgan and Jackie Christ teamed up to record nine points while Morgan aided in an Ashley Tudor basket. Taiye Johnson cut the CCU lead to one on a second chance layup at 56-55.
 
Coastal's Freeman pushed the lead back to six before Tudor closed the third-quarter scoring with a jumper at the buzzer as the Chants led 61-57.
 
The Chanticleers closed the contest with a 24-7 run led by Freeman, Shultz, and Blount who finished the fourth quarter with seven, seven, and six points, respectively. Blount grabbed seven of her eight rebounds in the final period helping to keep Radford to just seven second-chance points on the night.
 
Coastal Carolina returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 30, as the Chants travel to Troy, Ala. to open Sun Belt action against the Troy Trojans. The tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
 
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.