ATLANTA, Ga. – The Coastal Carolina women's basketball team held off Georgia State, 69-62, to pick up a much-needed Sun Belt Conference road win on Thursday evening in Atlanta, Ga. With the win, the Chanticleers improved to 13-7 overall and 3-6 in conference play, while the Panthers dropped to 8-12 on the season and 2-6 in the SBC with the loss.
 
Coastal Carolina was led by freshman Arin Freeman who finished with a game-high 19 points to lead four Chanticleer players in double figures. Senior Aja Blount chipped in with 16 points, while junior Blayre Shultz and freshman Angie Juste-Jean each added 14 points and 13 points, respectively. Georgia State was led by Tahya Worth and Ashley Foster who both finished with 12 points apiece.
 
The Chanticleers jumped out to the early 4-3 lead on a driving layup by Freeman, who then followed that up with a pair of free throws. The Panthers answered with a 7-0 run to take a 10-4 as Foster and Deasia Merrill combined to hit three straight baskets. Coastal stopped the run as Blount and Shultz sandwiched a Panther free throw with six free throws of their own to cut the GSU lead to 11-10. Each squad closed out the first quarter with six points each as Georgia State led 17-16 after 10 minutes of play.
 
To start the second quarter, the Panthers got a quick two points as Nyla Jean hit a fast-break layup off a CCU turnover for the 19-16 lead. However, the lead was short-lived, as Shultz and Freeman hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Chants their first lead since 7:45 left in the first period at 22-19. Coastal jumped out to a 27-21 advantage as Blount hit the first of her two three-pointers only to see GSU even the score at 27-27 on Alex Gitchenko's pull-up jumper just outside the paint. The second period ended with Freeman hitting a pair of free throws to even the score at 32-32.
 
Coastal Carolina opened the third quarter with a 9-0 run forcing the Panthers to call their first timeout of the second half, as Shultz hit four free throws and a three-point shot following a Juste-Jean steal and layup. GSU and CCU traded baskets just before the Chanticleers took their largest lead at 50-35 on a Blount second-chance layup with 4:33 remaining in the third period. Juste-Jean and Shultz controlled the third quarter with nine points and seven points, respectively. Coastal closed the third period on a driving layup by Freeman for an 11-point lead at 57-46.
 
Georgia State opened the final quarter as Worth hit a three-point shot followed by a pair Jenae Dublin free throws to cut CCU's lead to 57-50. The Chants got three points as Blount went 1-of-2 from the free throw line followed by a jumper by Juste-Jean to push the lead back out to double digits at 60-51. The Panthers cut the lead to four as Elexus Bell hit a layup in the paint with 6:41 left to play.
 
Coastal opened the lead back to eight at 64-56 as Freeman hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe followed by Blount's second three-point shot of the game. The Chanticleers closed out the game by going 5-of-6 from the free throw line as Janeen Camp (five points) was 1-of-2, while both Freeman and Shultz finished 2-of-2 over the final minutes.
 
The Chanticleers shot 28.8 percent from the floor while outrebounding their 19th opponent by a 48-32 advantage. Coastal won the free throw battle by hitting 30-of-36 while the Panthers were just 10-of-25.
 
Coastal Carolina will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 12, as the Chanticleers travel to Statesboro, Ga. to close out the road portion of the 2021-22 season against Georgia Southern. The tip-off is scheduled for 2 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.