Lafayette, La. (WBTW) — The Coastal Carolina women’s basketball team picked up its third straight Sun Belt Conference win Saturday afternoon as the Chanticleers defeated Louisiana 76-58 at the Cajundome. Caitlin Roche once again came up big for the Chants, getting 24 points to lead Coastal in scoring for the third straight game.
Coastal (11-9, 3-6) has now won each of its last three games by double-digit margins, and each game has featured impressive second-half performances. Louisiana falls to 6-14, 4-6 with its fourth loss in its last five games.
Roche’s day began early as she opened the game’s scoring with consecutive 3-pointers. The junior guard finished 6-10 from beyond the arc and 7-13 from the field overall. She also added four points on four shots at the free-throw line.
Aja Blount and Naheria Hamilton joined Roche in double figures with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Hamilton also collected a game-high nine rebounds.
Coastal dished out 17 assists with DJ Williams accounting for six of those. Williams also had nine points and eight rebounds, and saw her streak of scoring in double figures come to an end at 11 games.
The Chants shot just over 50 percent from the field (29-57), including an even 60 percent in the second half (18-30).
Coastal led by eight, 31-23, going into halftime, and quickly stretched their lead into double figures by scoring 10 straight points to begin the third quarter. Up by 18 after that run, Coastal retained a double-digit cushion for the remainder of the game.
Louisiana held just one lead all game, going in front 19-17 with 6:17 left to play in the second quarter. Coastal then finished the period on a 14-2 run, with Roche scoring eight points during that span.
Roche has scored over 20 points twice in Coastal’s last three games, and has now crossed the 20-point threshold seven times this year. The Chants also improved to 8-2 this season when she hits four or more 3-pointers in a game.
Three players scored in double figures for Louisiana, including Diamond Morrison (12), Kendell Bess (11) and Andrea Cournoyer (10), but the Cajuns shot just 32 percent from the field.
Coastal returns to the HTC Center this week to begin a three-game home stand. The Chants open the stretch against UTA at 6 p.m. on Thursday.