CONWAY, S.C. – Aja Blount scored a season-high 31 points and Deaja Richardson added 22 points as Coastal Carolina built a 27-point lead and cruised to a 79-59 win over Georgia State in a Sun Belt Conference game Wednesday night at the HTC Center. The Chanticleers led nearly all the way to improve to 13-15 overall and 8-9 in the league.
 
Blount, a 5-11 graduate student who went over 1,900 points in her Coastal career, also grabbed 14 rebounds to collect the eighth double-double of the season. It was the 11th consecutive game in which Blount has scored in double figures for the Chanticleers. Meanwhile, Richardson reached double figures for the ninth consecutive game and has hit for 20 or more in three of the last four.
 
Richardson, a 5-9 senior, got 16 of her points in the second half and exploded in the fourth quarter when she scored nine of her team's first 11 points, leading the Chants to a 27-point advantage at 71-44, when Blount scored on an inside move with six minutes to play.
 
Coastal got additional scoring from five more players, including versatile super senior forward Miriam Recarte, who had eight points. Sophomore point guard Arin Freeman was at the controls for the Chants, with five points and six assists against just two turnovers. Richardson also had six assists to go with four steals, as CCU logged 17 assists in making 29 buckets.
 
Alyssa Phillip scored 14 points to lead Georgia State, which fell to 11-19 overall and 5-12 in the conference. Two of those losses came against Coastal, which also took a 68-57 decision in Atlanta earlier in the season.
 
"You could feel the energy out there. We challenged the team to win the first five minutes of every quarter and that is how you stretch your lead," said Coastal first-year head coach Kevin Pederson. "We wanted to go inside-out."
 
Working the inside from the start, the Chants meant business, as Blount scored 11 of her team's first 13 points at the outset of a 19-2 run that put Coastal comfortably in front at 19-4. Blount made all five of her field goal attempts; four of them from close range and then stepped out to swish a three-point try. Coastal led 19-10 at the end of the first quarter, cooling off a bit after a hot start.
 
But Coastal did not allow Georgia State to get any closer than seven points the rest of the way. Blount had eight more points in the second quarter, and the Chants maintained their margin largely by making 11-of-12 free throws in the 10-minute period. In addition, they efficiently dished out eight assists on 12 baskets in the first half and led 38-29 at the break.
 
Coastal ramped up the energy even more in the second half and pulled away to lead by 19 points at 55-36 with a 15-6 run midway through the third quarter. Georgia State never got closer than that the rest of the game, even though the visiting Panthers scored the final six points of the contest. With the outcome decided, Coastal got 11 players in the game. Sophomore frontline player Arielle-Vadrelle Belinga made the most of her time, with four points in less than three minutes of action.
 
Coastal shot an even 50 percent from the field (29-for-58), with six three-pointers. The Chants also made 15-of-17 free throws (88.2 percent) and came out nearly even in rebounds with their visitors at 33-30.
 
Coastal will conclude its regular season schedule with a home game at 6 p.m. ET Friday against Old Dominion. The 2023 Sun Belt Conference Women's Basketball Championships will be played from Feb. 28-March 6 at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla.
 
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.