CONWAY, SC – The Coastal Carolina women’s basketball team used a strong first half – including a stretch of 18 unanswered points in the second quarter – to take an early, commanding lead over Georgia State, and enjoyed a double-digit lead for the entirety of the second half as the Chants defeated the Panthers 64-49 Sunday afternoon at the HTC Center.

Coastal improves to 10-7, 4-2 with its seventh straight win on its home court. Georgia State falls to 4-13 overall and remains winless in the Sun Belt at 0-6. DJ Williams led all players in scoring with 22 points and had a team-high nine rebounds, her second straight game finishing one rebound short of a double-double.

Williams also dished out four assists. Jas Adams added 11 points to round out Coastal’s double-digit scorers. The Chants held a 41-32 advantage in field goal shooting percentage, and out-rebounded the Panthers 40-33. Coastal scored 22 of its points off 17 Georgia State turnovers, and doubled the Panthers in paint points, 30-14.

The Chanticleer defense did an excellent job stifling Georgia State in the opening quarter, holding the Panthers without a basket from the floor until there were 57 seconds remaining. Georgia State finished the quarter 1-of-14 from the field, and scored three points on four attempts at the free-throw line. Williams paced the Chants with seven points in the first, and Coastal’s 13-3 run to open the game allowed an eight point cushion heading into the next frame.

Georgia State’s shooting did not improve in the second quarter as it made just two of its 12 attempts, bringing its first half shooting percentage to 11.5 percent. Coastal took full advantage of the Panthers’ struggles, scoring 18 unanswered points over five minutes to take a commanding 31- 7 lead.

Williams scored eight points during that span to push her first-half total to 15 points, and was dominant on the boards with eight rebounds. The Panthers’ shots finally started to fall as the second half began. Georgia State made seven of its 14 attempts in the third quarter, but Coastal’s offense kept pace with the visitors and remained ahead by at least 14 points throughout the quarter.

Coastal used a 13-3 run over the final minute of the third quarter and first four minutes of the fourth quarter to take its largest lead of the afternoon at 24 points. Georgia State responded by scoring 11 straight points, but never managed to trim the deficit by more than 13 points.

Shay Fluker led the Panthers with 18 points, following by Janessa Murphy with 10. Francesca Minali led all players with 11 rebounds. Coastal is back on the road next week as it heads to the state of Alabama to take on South Alabama (Jan. 18) and Troy (Jan. 20).

Press Release CCU Athletic Department