CONWAY – Coastal Carolina freshmen reserves Bailey Lewis and Alana Denson combined to score 35 points to lead seven players in double figures as the Chanticleers routed Wesleyan College 132-32 to give the women’s basketball team its best start ever at 8-1. The 132 points and the 100-point margin of victory are both school records.
CCU also set program records in three-point field goals with 14, fields goal made with 54, and team assists with 33.
Lewis, a 6-5 center, had personal bests of 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Denson, a guard, had career-highs of 17 points and six assists. Another reserve, junior guard Tiarra Davis, led the team with a career-high 19 points. The other top scorers were guards Kaylin West with 16, and Caitlin Roche and Zacharyia Esmon with 14. Aja Blount, who started for the injured Janae Camp, added 10 points and grabbed six rebounds in just 15 minutes of action.
Wesleyan, a Division III school in the USA South Conference, used this game as an exhibition contest and remains at 0-10 on the season and is in the midst of a 35-game losing streak. Freshman Nia Sellers led the Wolves with eight points while sophomore forward Kelsey Houpt had a game-high 11 rebounds.
Coastal wasted no time in taking control. The Chanticleers scored the first 10 points of the contest and ran out to a 36-6 advantage after the first period. Coastal led 69-18 at the half and already had 10 players in the scoring column. At the half, West had 11 points while Roche had nine, with all of her points coming on three-pointers in the first quarter.
Coastal continued to stretch its lead by closing the game on a 42-4 run. In the end, Coastal shot 54-of-90 (60 percent) and got 76 points in the paint. The Chanticleers also made 14-of-30 three-pointers and out-rebounded the smaller Wolves by 27 boards at 58-31. Overall, the guards played near flawlessly, with 33 assists and just 14 turnovers.
The defense tallied 23 steals and forced the Wolves into committing 37 turnovers in the 40-minute contest. The 23 steals are the most since the Chants recorded 25 versus Mid Atlantic Christian in 2015-16 and the third-most in program history behind the record of 29 set back in the 2009-10 season.
Coastal returns to action next Thursday, Dec. 19, against Elon in the Philanthropist.com Carolinas Challenge at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m. ET.
The Chanticleers come back to the HTC Center on Dec. 29 to host South Carolina State before Sun Belt Conference play starts on Jan. 2.
Courtesy: Coastal Carolina Athletics