PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Coastal Carolina women's basketball season came to an end on Wednesday at the 2023 Hercules Tire Sun Belt Women's Basketball Championship as the Chanticleers fell 60-53 in the second round to the eighth-seeded Marshall Thundering Herd in Pensacola, Fla. With the loss, CCU finished the season at 14-16, while the Thundering Herd improved to 17-13 with the win.
Coastal was led by sophomore guard
Arin Freeman with 16 points, while graduate student
Aja Blount and senior
Deaja Richardson added 14 and 12 points, respectively. Graduate student
Miriam Recarte led the team with eight rebounds and was aided on the boards by Blount, Freeman, and
Angie Juste-Jean with seven, six, and six rebounds, respectively.
Marshall was paced by Abby Beeman with a game-high 19 points, with Roshala Scott and Sydni Scott chipping in with 16 and 14 points each. Aside from scoring, Beeman led Marshall with seven rebounds and eight assists on the day.
In the opening quarter, the Chanticleers fell behind 10-3 early as the Thundering Herd's Sydni Scott ignited the run with a pair of three-point jump shots. Coastal cut the lead in half with 2:53 remaining in the first period as both Freeman and Blount hit 1-of-2 from the free throw line.
Coastal's Richardson outscored the Herd 5-3 on her own with a long-range bomb and a driving layup on the fast break to pull the Chants to within three points at 13-10 at the end of the first quarter.
Through the first four minutes of the second period, CCU answered Marshall shot-for-shot to remain down three points at 20-17. The Thundering Herd opened a nine-point advantage at 28-19 with an 8-2 surge, with a Freeman layup being the lone Chanticleer basket. Coastal closed the first-half scoring by going 3-of-4 from the free throw line to trail 28-22 at the halftime intermission.
The Chants opened the third period with an 8-0 run to take its first lead of the game at 30-28, sparked and capped off by a pair of free throws by Freeman. The two teams traded the next eight points, with Coastal taking its last lead of the game at 34-32 by way of a pair of free throws from Blount with 3:55 remaining in the third quarter. However, Marshall finished the third period with an 8-1 run to retake the lead that it would not relinquish at 40-35 with 10 minutes left in regulation.
In the fourth and final quarter, the Herd opened the scoring with a long-range jumper by Terah Harness for an eight-point advantage at 43-35. Coastal sandwiched a Marshall free throw with a pair of layups to trail by five at 44-39 only to see Sydni Scott push the Herd's advantage to 47-39 with a three-point fast break jump shot.
After trading the next 11 points, CCU trailed by five at 51-46 with 4:06 remaining in regulation. Coastal's Richardson sparked a 5-2 surge that pulled the Chanticleers to within two points at 53-51 with two minutes left to play. But it was too little too late, as Marshall closed out the game with a 7-2 run, including going 4-of-6 from the free throw line for the final margin of 60-53.
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.
