Conway, SC (WBTW) — Freshman center Aja Blount came off the bench to score a game-high 22 points, including 18 in the second half, but it wasn’t enough as Coastal Carolina dropped a 60-57 decision to ULM Saturday at the HTC Center.
 
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Chanticleers and dropped them to 16-11 overall and 8-8 in the Sun Belt.
 
ULM pulled in front mid-way through the first quarter and led the rest of the way to improve to 9-18 overall and 3-13 in conference. The Warhawks were led by sophomore guard Arsula Clark, who had 18 points.
 
Coastal fell behind by 16 points in the final minute of the third quarter at 51-35 before mounting a furious comeback attempt. ULM led 60-53 in the final minute before Blount scored inside and junior guard Torrie Cash made a pair of free throws to cut the margin to three points with 19 second left. From there, junior guard Caitlin Roche made a steal and fed Cash in the right corner for a last second 3-point attempt that missed the mark. Coastal closed the quarter by out-scoring the Warhawks, 20-9
 
“Torrie was comfortable with that last shot, but it just didn’t happen for her this time,” said Coastal head coach Jaida Williams. “I talked to her after the game and told her to keep shooting. I also thought Aja did a great job when we really needed it. It’s no secret that our game plan was to get the ball to Aja down low.”
 
Overall, Coastal had three players in double figures. Besides Blount, who was just a point shy of her career high, Cash hit for 13 points, all in the second half, and Roche had 12 points, all in the first half. Blount finished 9-16 from the field and had five rebounds.
 
Coastal shot just 35 percent from the field (21-60) on the day as compared to a hot 55 percent for ULM (22-40). The difference, however, was from behind the 3-point line, where ULM had the edge, hitting six long-range jumpers compared to four for Coastal. As usual, the Chanticleers had a rebounding advantage over their opponent, 32-26.
 
Roche scored her team’s first 7 points and 10 of its first 14 as Coastal took a 14-12 lead. But reserve guard Destini Lunsford hit a couple of 3-pointers to start ULM on a 16-2 run that gave the Warhawks a 32-18 advantage with 3 minutes left in the second quarter. The Chanticleers also hurt themselves by going the final 4 minutes of the quarter without a field goal and trailed 34-22 at the half.
 
Prior to the game, a pair of ceremonies were held to honor junior guard DJ Williams for scoring her 1,000th career point on Thursday night and senior forward Jaime Williams who was playing in her final home game at the HTC Center.
 
Coastal will finish the regular season with two games on the road, at South Alabama on Thursday and at Troy on Saturday.