Coastal Cruises Past South Carolina State on Wednesday
Conway, SC – Aye Blunt had game highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead Coastal Carolina to an easy 87-56 victory over South Carolina State in an off-conference home contest Wednesday night at the HTC Center.
Blount, a 5’11-inch student, was one of three double-digit players for the Chants, raising their record to 2-4 overall and 2-0 at home. Senior Guard Deaja Richardson added 16 points while freshman guard Anaya Barney came off the bench and scored 13 points. Arin Freemana 5’7″ sophomore, added eight points, along with eight assists and five rebounds.
It was the 20th career double-double for Blount, who has now scored 20 or more points in his last four competitions and is averaging a team-high 17 points per game. She also leads the team with 9.0 rebounds per game.
Mekayla Lumpin scored 16 points and led South Carolina State, which slipped to 0-9 on the season. Nadia Reese and Nicole Green each scored 14 points for the Bulldogs.
Blount fought his way inside to hit 10 of 12 field goal attempts to lead the Chanticleers to a clear advantage in the colour, where they scored 46 of their points.
They also found the range for nine threes, with Richardson, who returned to the starting lineup after missing the last game, taking the lead with four field goals from long-range.
Coastal led comfortably in the second half but cemented the win with an 11-0 run that gave the Chants a 74-48 lead with 8-0 in the game.
After a slow start that left the Chanticleers 12-0 down, they rallied and moved up a point by the end of the first quarter. CCU’s Barney, Blount and Freeman collectively scored 14 of the Chants’ 19 points by achieving a combined 6-of-9 score, with Barney scoring six points overall in the first quarter.
Blount got to work where she scored six points in a 14-0 run early in the second half, opening the game for the Chants and putting them 33-22 ahead. Blount finished the second quarter with 12 points and Coastal led 44-30 at halftime.
Coastal finished the game with a 33-to-58 (57.0 percent) shooting and outperformed the smaller visitors 44-20. South Carlina State shot 38.0 percent for the game after starting the game by scoring 5-of-7 from beyond the three-point arc, leading to a 12-0 start for the Bulldogs.
Coastal will travel to Charleston, SC to take on the College of Charleston on Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET before returning to the HTC Center for a three-game home stand. The Chanticleers will greet Furman on Sunday, December 11 at 2:00 p.m. ET and then greet Erskine on Thursday, December 15 at 6:00 p.m. ET and Sunday, December 18 at 2:00 p.m AM ET UNCW.
For full CCU women’s basketball coverage, follow the chants on social media @CoastalWBB (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) or visit the official Coastal Carolina Athletics home page at goccusports.com .
