Conway, SC (WBTW) — Naheria Hamilton recorded just the second triple-double in Coastal Carolina women’s basketball history and four Chanticleers scored in double digits as No. 8 Coastal defeated No. 9 Arkansas State in the first round of the 2019 Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship at the HTC Center.
Coastal (17-13, 8-10) now advances to play in Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, La., where it will meet No. 5 Appalachian State on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. CT/12:30 p.m. ET.
Hamilton closed out the win with 10 points, a game high of 12 rebounds and a career best of 10 blocks. Her previous career high was nine blocks earlier this season on Dec. 29 in an overtime win at UNC Greensboro.
Coastal’s only other triple-double in program history was recorded by Angelica Henry in 2014. Coincidentally, Henry’s triple-double occurred during the first round of that year’s Big South Conference tournament at the HTC Center.
Coastal and Arkansas State entered the second half deadlocked, but Coastal used a 19-2 run over the final eight minutes of the third quarter to take a 14-point advantage into the fourth. The Chants remained in front for the rest of the game, and only once did their lead dip back into single digits.
DJ Williams had six points during that third-quarter run and finished as the game’s leading scorer with 16 points. Junior guard Caitlin Roche and freshman forward Aja Blount each had 15 points. Hamilton rounded out Coastal’s double-digit scorers.
In addition to Hamilton’s 12 rebounds, Blount hauled in 10 for her second double-double of the season. As a team, Coastal out-rebounded A-State 47-27, including 17 offensive rebounds that led to 17 second chance points. Coastal further dominated down low by outscoring the Red Wolves 40-22 in the paint.
Neither team managed to gain any ground in the first half as the game went to halftime with the score tied 30-30. Williams scored 10 of her points in the first half on 5-11 from the floor, while A-State’s Washington led all first-half scorers with 11 points. Both the Chants and Red Wolves shot around 45 percent over the first 20 minutes. The largest lead of the half was four points, held by Coastal less than a minute into the game.
A-State’s Jireh Washington scored 13 points and was the only member of her team to reach double figures. A-State closed the night shooting 34 percent from the floor, and managed just 57 percent (8-14) at the free throw line.
Buoyed by its inside presence, Coastal shot 43 percent for the game as it converted its high-percentage opportunities.
Coastal and App State split their regular season series with the home team holding serve in each game. The Mountaineers won 67-53 in Boone, N.C., on Jan. 19 before the Chants took a 74-66 decision on Feb. 16 in Conway.
Wednesday’s meeting will be the second between these two teams in the Sun Belt tournament. In Coastal’s first Sun Belt tournament appearance in 2017, No. 9 App State defeated the No. 8 Chants in the first round.