STATESBORO, Ga. – The Coastal Carolina women's basketball team fell 90-75 to the Georgia Southern Eagles on Saturday afternoon in Statesboro, Ga. With the loss, the Chanticleers dropped to 13-8 on the season and 3-7 in the Sun Belt Conference, while the Eagles improved to 15-7 overall and 6-4 in the conference with the win.
 
Freshman Jordyn Newsome scored a team and career-high 24 points, while Aja Blount added 19 points to pace the Coastal offense. Georgia Southern's Terren Ward recorded a game-high 30 points, while teammates Taya Gibson and Mya Burns chipped in with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Coastal opened the contest on a long-range three-point shot from Blayre Shultz to go up 3-0 early in the contest. The Eagles ran off with 23 straight points to take a 20-point advantage at the end of the first quarter. Georgia Southern stormed ahead by forcing 10 Chants' turnovers and picking up a combined 12 points by Burns and Ward in the first period.
 
Coastal Carolina returned to its normal self in the second quarter by outscoring the host team 19-17. Blount (nine points) and Newsome (five points) started the comeback bid, as Blount double the Chants' score with a three-point shot to open the scoring for CCU in the second quarter. Deaja Richardson followed with three of her seven points by hitting 1-of-2 from the free-throw line and a mid-range jumper after an Eagle miscue.
 
Georgia Southern pushed its lead out to 23 with 1:25 left in the second period on a pair of free throws by Burns, while CCU's Newsome answered with 1-of-2 from the free-throw line. Blount grabbed the rebound on the second missed free throw and got a quick put back. The Chanticleer defense forced a shot clock violation and Blount followed with a pair of free throws to cut the Eagles' lead to 40-22 at the half.
 
The third quarter opened with four quick points by Georgia Southern to push the Eagles' lead to 22 points. Georgia Southern and Coastal played even the rest of the third period with the Eagles going up by as much as 26 points on a Ward three-point jumper on a fast break. The Chanticleers closed out the quarter with a pair of free throws by Angie Juste-Jean to cut the Eagles' lead to 68-48.
 
With just 10 minutes remaining to play, CCU's Newsome recorded 12 points on 5-of-7 from the field and 2-of-2 from behind the arc for three. Newsome sparked the come-from-behind attempt with a bounce pass to Richardson for a fast-break layup and quickly followed that with a mid-range jumper just outside the paint.
 
CCU then cut the lead to 10 on a three-point jump shot by Newsome and the duo of Richardson and Blount combed to go 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Georgia Southern's Ward closed out the scoring with a late three-pointer for the final score of 90-75.
 
The Chanticleers outrebounded their 20th opponent with a 43-42 margin, while shooting 39.3 percent from the floor. For the second consecutive game, Coastal outshot its opponent at the free throw line by going 21-of-29 for a 72.4 free throw percentage while the Eagles finished 18-of-27 for 66.7 free throw percentage.
 
Coastal Carolina will return to action at home in Conway, S.C., on Saturday, Feb. 19, as the Chanticleers will host UTA inside the HTC Center. The tip-off is scheduled for 1 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.