CONWAY, S.C. – Senior forward
Aja Blount scored a game-high 19 points to lead four players in double figures for Coastal Carolina as the Chanticleers pulled away in the final minutes to earn a 79-62 win over South Alabama in a Sun Belt Conference game Thursday night at the HTC Center.
Blount, a powerful inside force at 5'11", was supported by guards
Arin Freeman, who had 16 points,
Jordyn Newsome with 13, and
Blayre Shultz with 10.
It was Blount's 16th straight game in double figures for the Chants, who improved their mark to 14-9 overall and 4-8 in the league. Coastal also improved to 11-3 at home this season.
Blount and Freeman also grabbed 19 and 11 rebounds, respectively, to register double-doubles. It was the seventh double-double of the season for Blount, while it was the first for the 5'7" Freeman. Freeman and Newsome, who got her first starting nod of the season, have now hit for double figures in consecutive games.
Tyrielle Williams and Mahogany Vaught each scored 14 points to lead South Alabama, which lost its eighth straight contest to slip to 8-16 overall and 2-9 in the Sun Belt.
Coastal seemingly had the outcome in hand but Vaught hit three three-pointers to pull the Jaguars to within five at 63-58 with 7:00 minutes left. After trading baskets, Newsome led Coastal on a 14-2 run to close the game to win going away. Newsome had three driving layups in the scoring spree and
Deaja Richardson capped it all with a put-back layup that gave the Chants their largest lead of 17 at the game's end.
Blount, who is the second-leading scorer in the conference at 18.9 points per game, got seven of her team's first 12 points to help put the Chants in front 12-7. An 8-0 run gave Coastal a double-digit lead at 26-14, and then the Chants closed the half with a 10-5 scoring burst to take a 42-29 advantage at halftime. The potent guard trio of Freeman, Shultz, and Newsome contributed 25 of the 42 points, with Freeman netting 10 of those.
Coastal finished the game shooting 31-of-64 from the field (48 percent) and outrebounded South Alabama by a 52-30 margin. It was the 22nd time this season that Coastal has held the rebounding advantage.
Coastal will host Troy at 2 p.m. ET Saturday to close out the regular season. Troy clinched at least a share of the Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship with a win over Appalachian State on Thursday night.
The Chanticleers will head to the Sun Belt Conference championship beginning March 2 at the Pensacola (Fla.) Bay Center.
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 goccusports.com.
