Conway, SC (WBTW) — The Coastal Carolina women’s basketball team won its second straight home game Saturday afternoon as the Chanticleers defeated Appalachian State, 74-66, at the HTC Center. DJ Williams  scored 25 points – one short of her season high – to power Coastal to its fifth win in its past six games.
 
Coastal improves to 12-11, 5-7 with Saturday’s win to pull within one game of Sun Belt rival Appalachian State at 12-11, 6-6.
 
Williams was a force throughout the game, scoring 13 points in the first half and 12 in the second. The junior guard finished 8-18 from the field and was a near-perfect 9-10 at the free-throw line. Williams also had team highs of seven rebounds and three assists.
 
Caitlin Roche scored in double figures for her sixth straight game, amassing 13 points while leading the Chants with three steals. Naheria Hamilton scored 10 points and collected six rebounds.
 
Coastal trailed just three times during the game, all early in the first half. The Chants took the lead for good midway through the second quarter when Tiarra Davis hit her lone 3-pointer of the day. In total, Coastal led for just over 30 minutes of the contest.
 
Coastal shot 43 percent from the field to App’s 40 percent and recorded its sixth straight 40-plus rebound game as the Chants out-rebounded the Mountaineers 41-36.
 
Coastal carried a 37-31 lead into halftime following a strong showing in the second quarter. The Chants scored nine unanswered points early in the frame and later scored eight unanswered. In total, Coastal’s defense held App scoreless for nearly eight minutes of action during the second quarter. Williams and Roche both reached double figures in the first half, the former scoring 13 points and the latter 11.
 
The Chants’ lead reached double digits less than three minutes into the second half as they opened on a 9-2 run. Coastal continued to pull away from the Mountaineers, building to their largest lead of the day at 17 points (60-43) with two minutes remaining in the third quarter. During those final two minutes, however, App rallied to score nine straight points to cut Coastal’s lead to 60-52.
 
App’s comeback attempt continued into the fourth quarter, slowly chipping away at Coastal’s lead until the Chants led by just three points, 67-64, with less than three minutes to play. Coastal was clutch from the free-throw line down the final stretch, however, making five straight at the stripe to seal the win.
 
Coastal is back on the road this week. traveling to Georgia Southern on Thursday and Georgia State on Saturday.