SAN MARCOS, TEXAS – Coastal Carolina women's basketball fell to Texas State 64-59 at the Strahan Arena on the campus of Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas Saturday afternoon. With the loss, the Chanticleers fell to 12-7 on the year and 2-6 in Sun Belt Conference action, while the Bobcats improved to 11-11 overall and 6-4 in conference play with the win.
Senior forward
Aja Blount scored a team-high 14 points to lead the Chants' offensive attack. Senior guard
Tyra Brown recorded 10 points, while senior center
Janeen Camp and freshman guard
Arin Freeman added nine points each. Texas State's Jo'Nah Johnson scored a game-high 15 points, while Kennedy Taylor added 12 points to lead the Bobcats attack.
The Chanticleers opened up an early two-point at 5-3 lead in the first quarter on back-to-back baskets by
Kalaya Buggs and a three-point jump shot by Blount. The two teams traded baskets before Texas State jumped out to a 16-10 lead on a three-point shot from Johnson with two minutes left in the first quarter. The opening period ended with a
Janeen Camp layup off the assist from
Blayre Shultz, followed by a
Janeen Camp blocked shot on the defensive end as time expired with the Chants trailing 19-14.
The Chanticleer duo of Blount and Brown scored five points each with both hitting one from deep behind the three-point line to lead the offense in the second quarter as both teams traded baskets. However, the Bobcats jumped out to a 10-point lead on six points each by Johnson and Taylor. Texas State went to the intermission with a 35-28 halftime lead.
After the break, the Chanticleers closed the gap to six points as
Janeen Camp hit 1-of-2 from the free throw line before a pull up jump shot by
Angie Juste-Jean. Coastal cut the Bobcat lead to four with four minutes left to play in the third period as Shultz stole a pass and drove the length of the floor for a layup before Texas State stretched its lead to 10 points with just under two minutes left in the quarter. The Chanticleers closed the period with the final four points as
Janeen Camp hit back-to-back layups to put the score at 49-43.
Texas State opened the final quarter with four quick points to force the Chants to call a quick timeout with just 1:12 expiring on the game clock. Reserve junior guard
Deaja Richardson stepped on the floor and made her presence felt by drawing her second charge on a driving Bobcat player on the defensive end and then hit a three-point shot to spark a 7-0 run to cut the Texas State lead to 53-50.
Johnson pushed the Bobcats lead back to six with a deep three-point shot before the Bobcats kept the Chanticleers at bay by matching the visitors basket-for-basket down the stretch. Coastal pulled to within three on a final three-point jump shot to cut the lead to 62-59 before Sierra Dickson closed out the scoring in the contest with a pair of free throws.
Like the majority of the season, the Chants outrebounded their 18th opponent on the season at 44-37 but lost the second-chance point battle 10-6. Coastal shot 39.3 percent from the floor by hitting 22-of-56, while the Bobcats finished 22-of-62 for a 35.5 shooting percentage.
Coastal Carolina will close out the road portion of its schedule next week when the Chants travel to Atlanta, Ga., to take on Georgia State on Thursday, Feb 10, followed by a short jaunt up to Statesboro, Ga., on Saturday, Feb. 12. The two games are scheduled to tip-off at 6 p.m. ET and 2 p.m. ET, respectively.
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.
