PENSACOLA, Fla. – No. 4 Coastal Carolina used a dominant bench performance to power past No. 8 Georgia State, 77-68, in the Sun Belt Conference Championship quarterfinals on Saturday at the Pensacola Bay Center.
The Chanticleers (23-7) advance to the league's semifinal round for the first time in school history and will face No. 1 seed James Madison on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Alancia Ramsey posted her seventh double-double of the season off the bench, scoring a team-high 18 points while grabbing a game-high 10 boards.
Jayden Marable added 15 while
Savannah Brooks and
Jaylen Ponder each poured in 10.
Coastal started a five-guard lineup to try and limit the Georgia State offense. The Chants got 54 of their 77 points from the reserves and controlled the paint with 44 points inside, overcoming a fast start from Georgia State (17-16) to pull away late.
Coastal built a 34-28 halftime lead and extended it in the third quarter, outscoring the Panthers 19-12. The Chanticleers led by as many as 18 in the second half before Georgia State rallied to trim the deficit in the final minutes.
The Panthers were led by Mikyla Tolivert, who scored a game-high 26 points, but struggled to find offensive consistency, shooting just 32% from the field. Coastal's balanced attack and depth proved too much, as the Chanticleers closed the game with clutch free-throw shooting and defensive stops.
Coastal's semifinal matchup with James Madison will be a rematch from earlier in the season with the Dukes winning both ends of the season series, and a trip to the Sun Belt title game on the line. Tune into ESPN+ and the Chanticleer Radio Network for complete coverage.
