CONWAY – The Coastal Carolina women’s basketball team won its second overtime game of the season at the HTC Center on Saturday, defeating Appalachian State 73-68.
Coastal (12-12, 6-7) led for over 40 minutes of game time, but App State (6-18, 4-9) forced overtime on LaPresha Stanley’s game-tying shot with 2.8 seconds remaining in regulation. The lead changed hands five times during the overtime period before the Chants scored seven unanswered points to close out the game.
The victory snaps a four-game losing streak for Coastal and keeps the Chants in eighth place in the Sun Belt, one spot ahead of ninth-place App State. Coastal is also now 2-0 in overtime games this season. The Chants previously defeated Fort Wayne in overtime at the HTC Center on Dec. 4.
Jas Adams led the game scoring 29 points, tying her career high. Her efforts bring her career total to 1,052 points, moving her into 12th place among Coastal’s all-time leading scorers.
Three other Chants finished in double figures, including DJ Williams, who collected her fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Williams’ total on the boards led the game, as did her eight assists. Breelyn Blanding added 11 points, and Alise Davis scored 10.
Stanley led the Mountaineers with 24 points, followed by Lainey Gosnell with 13 points.
Coastal took a 15-5 lead at the end of the first quarter after holding App State to only a pair of baskets and one make from the free-throw line. The Chants themselves only scored five points in the opening six minutes, but finished the remainder of the quarter on a 10-2 run. Adams scored seven of Coastal’s points during that span, all coming consecutively and unanswered during the final two minutes.
The Chants continued building their lead in the first half of the second quarter, going in front by as many as 11 points after scoring eight unanswered. App State then strung together seven straight points to make it a two-possession game. Williams and Adams broke the Mountaineers’ streak with consecutive baskets, but App finished off the final minute of the first half with six straight points to leave Coastal with a 29-26 advantage at the break.
App State took a one-point lead, its first lead of the game, late in the third quarter following a 12-4 run. The Mountaineers remained in front for less than 20 seconds, however, as Adams made a pair of shots from the line. The Chants added three more points in the quarter’s final minute to lead 42-38 heading into the fourth quarter.
Coastal’s lead returned to double figures early in the fourth quarter as Adams and Hamilton combined to outscore App State 12-2 over the first four minutes. Plummer stopped Coastal’s streak with a pair of free throws, and the Mountaineers countered with a 15-6 run that carried into the final minute of regulation. Stanley scored eight of App’s points during that stretch, and Coastal nursed a two-point lead with 25 seconds remaining.
Adams went to the free-throw line with six seconds remaining and the Chants leading by two. Adams missed the first, and hit the second to put Coastal ahead by three. App called a timeout following the make and chose to advance to ball, which set up Stanley’s 3-point shot to send the game to overtime.
Coastal limited App to three baskets in the overtime period. Adams and Williams accounted for all 12 of Coastal’s points in overtime, the former scoring seven and the latter five.
Coastal plays its final home games of the season next week when it welcomes Troy and South Alabama to the HTC Center for Thursday and Saturday contests, respectively. The Chants faced both teams on the road in January, falling at South Alabama and defeating Troy. The victory over the Trojans’ saw Coastal score a season high of 97 points.
