NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Coastal Carolina women’s basketball team suffered a 78-69 loss to second-seeded Texas State in the quarterfinal round of the 2018 Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship on Thursday, ending the Chanticleers’ run for a conference title.
Coastal falls to 17-14 overall while Texas State advances to Saturday’s semifinals, where it will face the winner of Thursday’s final quarterfinal game between No. 3 UTA and No. 6 Louisiana.
The back-and-forth game featured 11 lead changes, the last of which came midway through the third quarter when Texas State overtook the lead for good.
Senior guard Jas Adams led Coastal scoring 22 points and handing out nine assists. Adams shot 8-of-21 from the field with a trio of 3-pointers, and made three of four attempts at the free-throw line.
Alise Davis followed Adams in scoring with 13 points, and Naheria Hamilton led Coastal on the boards with eight rebounds.
Texas State’s Taeler Deer led the Bobcats and matched Adams with 22 points and nine rebounds. Toshua Leavitt added 18 points for Texas State, while Ti’Aria Pitts finished with 17.
Both teams shot evenly from the field, hovering around 45 percent. Coastal led 40-30 in rebounds, but its 18 turnovers led to 28 points for Texas State.
The Chanticleers held the advantage for the majority of the first quarter, leading for almost six minutes of game time. Coastal went in front early and kept the lead by holding Texas State scoreless for a four-minute stretch. The Bobcats countered with a 7-1 run over the final two-and-a-half minutes of the quarter, giving them a slim 14-13 advantage going into the second.
A high-scoring second quarter saw Coastal shoot 58 percent from the field as it converted 10 of 17 attempts. Texas State led by as many as seven points in the quarter before Adams willed the Chants back in front. Coastal’s lone senior scored nine points in the frame and assisted on four other baskets. Davis also provided a spark for the Chants, scoring nine points off the bench. Coastal outscored Texas State 13-4 over the final three minutes of the first half to carry a 40-38 lead into the locker room.
Coastal scored five quick points to open the third quarter, giving the Chants a seven point lead – its largest to that point – and forcing Texas State to call a timeout just over a minute into the period. The Bobcats went on a 14-2 run out of the break to force the 11th lead change of the game as they went up by five points. Texas State remained in front for the remainder of the third, and led 56-53 entering the fourth.
Though Texas State led for the entirety of the final quarter, it was a one or two possession game throughout the first nine minutes. The Bobcats did not begin pulling away until the final minute, when a string a Coastal fouls allowed Texas State four straight points at the free-throw line. Texas State closed the game on an 8-2 run.