LEXINGTON, KY. – The Coastal Carolina women's basketball team fell to 0-2 on the season as the Kentucky Wildcats defeated the Chanticleers 79-53 on Sunday afternoon in Lexington, Ky. With the win, the Wildcats improved to 3-0 on the young season.
Coastal's offense was led by
Angie Juste-Jean with 14 points, while newcomer
B'Aunce Carter tallied 12 points and
Aja Blount added nine points for the Chants. However, CCU was outrebounded 36-34, as Blount had a game-high eight rebounds, while
Arielle-Vadrelle Belinga grabbed five boards.
The Wildcats were led by Jada Walker and Robyn Benton with 21 and 19 points, respectively. Walker finished 7-of-9 from the field, including a perfect 3-of-3 from long range. UK had three players with five rebounds each in Benton, Ajae Petty, and Blair Green.
In the opening quarter, Kentucky raced to a 7-0 advantage before the Chanticleers closed the gap to 9-7 with a 7-2 burst, sparked by a pair of Carter free throws and capped off by an
Arin Freeman layup. The Wildcats opened up an eight-point lead at 15-7 only to see the Chants pull to within four at 15-11, highlighted by a pair of free throws by
Deaja Richardson. With just a minute left in the first period, the Wildcats opened a 10-point advantage at 21-11 on a 6-0 run at the end of the first quarter.
CCU's Carter started the second-quarter scoring with her sixth point of the day with a jumper in the paint. After the Wildcats answered with five unanswered points, highlighted by a Walker three-pointer, the Chants'
Helena Delaruelle hit a long-range bomb cutting the UK lead to 26-16.
After trading the next 13 points, Kentucky led 34-23 after Coastal's
Anaya Barney hit a three-pointer. The Wildcats used a 9-0 run to widen their lead to 43-23 at the intermission.
Coastal started the second-half action with Freeman hitting a driving layup to cut the UK lead to 43-25, only to see Kentucky score 10 unanswered points to increase its lead to 53-25. CCU's Freeman stopped the run with her second basket of the second half with a mid-range jumper in the paint to make it 53-27 in favor of the Wildcats.
A 7-2 surge by Kentucky gave the home team a 62-29 advantage with 4:56 left to play in the third quarter. Coastal and the Wildcats traded baskets to close the third quarter with UK leading 73-39.
In the fourth period, Juste-Jean lead all scorers with seven points as the Chanticleers outscored the Wildcats 14-6. Kentucky opened the scoring in the final period with a driving layup and a mid-range jump shot for the 77-39 advantage. Coastal answered with four quick points to trail 77-43 with just under six minutes left to play in the game.
UK's Emma King scored the final basket for the Wildcats to make it 79-43 at the final media timeout. With 4:47 left to play, CCU's Carter hit 1-of-2 free throws to spark the final eight points of the contest, which was highlighted by four points by Juste-Jean.
Coastal Carolina will return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 16, as the Chanticleers will travel to Spartanburg, S.C., in their third road contest of the year versus Wofford. 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.
