Atlanta, Ga. – Sophomore Aja Blount recorded her second-straight double-double to lead the Coastal Carolina women’s basketball team to a 66-50 win over Georgia State on Saturday afternoon in Atlanta, Ga. With the win, the Chants improved to 23-3 on the season and 13-2 in Sun Belt play while the Panthers fall to 8-18 overall and 5-10 in the conference with the loss.

Blount scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in three quarters of action while being aided on the offense by seniors Torrie Cash and DJ Williams who had 15 and 13 points, respectively. Williams recorded her ninth double-double of the season and third-straight with 10 boards to go along with her 13 points.

Georgia State was led by Shaquanda Miller-McCray with 12 points while Taylor Moriah and Ashley Foster each added nine points off the bench.

After a tight start to the contest in the first quarter, Coastal loosened up first and jumped out to a 16-2 advantage as Williams scored six of her points to move into fourth-place in school history with 1,508 career points. Post players Janae Camp and Naheria Hamilton added four points each while Hamilton also recorded two blocks in the first quarter to move pass former Chant Katie White (209) for most career blocks with 211.

Blount checked into the game at the start of the second quarter and took control going 3-of-7 from the floor and a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe for 12 of her 23 points as the Chanticleers raced out to a 38-15 lead at the intermission. Cash added five points, hitting one three-pointer and a mid-range jumper.

The Chants opened their largest lead of the game at 29 points with 37 seconds remaining in the third quarter as Blount hit two free throws for her seventh and eighth points of the period.

The Panthers closed the gap, winning the final quarter 22-11 as Foster would find her range hitting three shots from behind the arc. However, the CCU lead was too big as the visiting Chants held on for the 16-point win.

Coastal finished the contest shooting 24-of-66 from the field and 4-of-11 from three-point land for identical 36.4 percent shooting while Georgia State was 20-of-66 from the floor for 30.3 percent and 7-of-26 from deep. The Chants shot a perfect 14-of-14 from the charity stripe with the Panthers going 3-of-9. CCU continued its dominance on the glass winning the rebound battle 52-39.

Coastal Carolina will return home for the final three contests of the season, starting with ULM on Thursday, Feb. 27 followed by Louisiana on Saturday, Feb. 29. The tip-off for both contests will be 6 p.m. and 2 p.m. ET, respectively. The Chants will close out the regular season as they host Appalachian State on Saturday, March 7 with a 2 p.m. ET start.

Courtesy – Coastal Carolina Athletics