Box Score Conway, S.C. – Simone Cunningham and Brenda Fontana each scored 21 points to lead Old Dominion to an 81-65 win over Coastal Carolina in a Sun Belt conference women's basketball game Wednesday night at the HTC Center, snapping the Chanticleers' eight-game winning streak.
The loss was only the second at home for the Chants, who slipped to 21-9 overall and 11-6 in the league. They are now 13-2 on their home court this season.
Jayden Marable scored 12 points to lead Coastal Carolina in scoring, while
Jaylen Ponder added 10 points.
Alancia Ramsey tallied seven points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Reserves
Anaya Barney and
Emilia Tenbrock also had seven points apiece.
The 21 points by Cunningham was a season high, helping Old Dominion to avenge an earlier loss to Coastal this season (80-77) and giving the Monarchs a 17-13 overall mark and a 9-8 record in the conference.
Old Dominion ran out to a 22-point lead, at 70-48, at the end of the third quarter before Coastal made it interesting with an 8-0 run to cut the margin to 73-60 with 4:30 remaining, but the Chants didn't get any closer.
Ponder scored six early points to help Coastal jump out to an 8-3 lead, but the two teams traded baskets, and neither could get more than a five-point advantage until Old Dominion closed with a 20-6 run over the last five minutes of the second quarter. Cunningham had seven points in the run for the Monarchs and already had 15 points at the break.
Marable had eight points to lead the Chants in scoring through two periods, while Stack and Ponder had six apiece. But three CCU frontline players were saddled with foul trouble and sat out more than half of the first 20 minutes.
ODU's hot hand continued into the third quarter, but this time it was the Monarchs' 6'1" center Fontana who did the damage, as she stepped out to hit a couple three-pointers in her team's 13-2 run to start the period. All of a sudden, Old Dominion was up 21, at 64-43, and never was challenged the rest of the way.
Coastal went without making a three-point shot (0-of-10) for the first time all season, and only earned three points off fast breaks. Conversely, Old Dominion made 10 three-pointers and had 13 fast break points.
Coastal will finish its regular season at home against Appalachian State at 5 p.m. Friday. The Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament is set for March 4-10 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 www.GoCCUsports.com.
