NORFOLK, Va. – The Coastal Carolina women's basketball team fell to the Old Dominion Monarchs 78-64 on Saturday afternoon in Norfolk, Va. With the loss, the Chanticleers dropped to 10-11 on the season and 5-5 in league play, while ODU improved to 14-9 on the season and 6-4 in Sun Belt Conference action with the win.
 
CCU's Deaja Richardson finished with a game-high 18 points while getting support from Aja Blount and Arin Freeman, who had 14 and 13 points, respectively. Angie Juste-Jean (9 points) was the team's leading rebounder with six boards, while Blount, the team's leading rebounder on the season, grabbed four rebounds on the day.
 
As a team, Coastal hit 20-of-48 shot attempts for 41.7 percent from the field but just 5-of-18 from behind the arch for 27.8 percent. The Chanticleers did most of their damage from the free throw line, where as a team, they were 19-of-22, as Freeman and Richardson combined to hit 13-of-13.
 
Amari Young scored a team-high 17 points to lead the Monarchs, while Kaylen Nelson was the only other ODU player in double digits with 11 points. Old Dominion won the rebounding battle 38-37 with Young and Brianna Jackson grabbing eight boards each.
 
Coastal got off to a slow start in the first quarter as the Monarchs raced out to a 10-2 advantage at the first media timeout, as CCU's Freeman hit a pair of free throws to get Coastal on the scoreboard. Coming out of the break in action, the Chants hit a pair of baskets as Juste-Jean hit two layups to cut the deficit to four points at 10-6.
 
However, the home team scored the next five points on second-chance baskets to take a 15-6 lead with 2:15 remaining to play in the first period. Coastal Carolina answered with four points as Arielle-Vadrelle Belinga made a turnaround jumper, which was followed by Freeman's second trip to the free throw line to cut the Monarchs' lead to 18-10. The two teams traded the final three baskets as ODU sandwiched a driving layup by CCU's Richardson with two jump shots to give ODU a 22-12 lead at the end of the first period.
 
The Monarchs began the second quarter with a pull-up jumper by Makayla Dickens only to see Coastal get four quick points from the free throw line by Richardson to cut the lead to eight points at 24-16. Old Dominion increased its advantage to 14 points at 30-16 with a 6-0 burst.
 
After an old-fashioned three-point play by Coastal's Blount, ODU used a second 6-0 surge to take a 36-19 lead before a Richardson steal and a second three-point play by the Chanticleers, with Freeman getting fouled on a driving layup, cut the Monarchs' lead to 36-22 at the halftime intermission.
 
The two teams traded the first nine baskets to open the second half action with Coastal cutting ODU's lead to 44-33 as Richardson scored seven of the 11 points by the Chanticleers. However, the Monarchs were able to increase their lead to 18 points by outscoring the visitors from Conway, S.C., 9-2 for a 53-35 advantage.
 
Despite trailing by 18 points, Coastal cut the Old Dominion lead to 55-43 sparked by a three-point jump shot by Richardson and capped off by a pair of free throws by Helena Delaruelle. The Monarchs answered with the final points of the third quarter for a 59-43 advantage.
 
With 10 minutes remaining in regulation, the Chanticleers cut their deficit to 10 points on back-to-back long-range three-point jump shots by Delaruelle and Juste-Jean to open the fourth period. Coastal then cut the ODU lead to single digits at 61-53, as Juste-Jean made a second-chance layup which was followed by a pair of free throws by Freeman.
 
However, the two teams traded free throws with 5:21 remaining in the game with Coastal trailing by eight points at 63-55 before an old-fashioned three-point play by Nelson extended the ODU lead to 66-55 advantage. After the two teams traded the next 10 points, CCU's Miriam Recarte would cut the lead to single digits for the final time at 72-64 with the three-point jump shot.
 
Old Dominion closed the fourth period scoring with a 6-0 run, highlighted by four free throws, for the final margin of 78-64.
 
Coastal Carolina now heads back to Conway, S.C., for a home contest with Arkansas State at 6 p.m. ET Thursday before hosting Appalachian State on Saturday at noon 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.