CCU

Women's Basketball Drops Conference Opener to UNC Asheville 59-48

The Chanticleers fall to 0-1 in the Big South Conference play and 9-4 overall.

           

Sydnei Moss finished with a game-high 20 points.

Sydnei Moss finished with a game-high 20 points.

Jan. 2, 2010

Final Stats

ASHEVILLE, N.C.-The Coastal Carolina University women’s basketball team dropped its Big South Conference opener to UNC Asheville 59-48 on Saturday, January 2 in the Justice Center. The Chanticleers fell to 9-4 overall mark this season and 0-1 in the Big South, as the Bulldogs improved to 5-8 and 1-0 in the league.

The Chanticleers took an 8-3 lead to start the game, but the Bulldogs battled their way back to go in front 14-11 with a Lindsay Thompson triple at 11 minutes left in the half. The Chanticleers went cold in their shooting from the field, while UNC Asheville went on a 6-2 run led by Chioma Okoli, putting the Bulldogs up 20-15 with 4:44 left in the first stanza. Grace Baylock hit two triples that helped give the Bulldogs 28-20 lead at the halftime break. The Chanticleers shot just 34.8 percent (8-of-23) from the field, while UNC Asheville scored 22 of their 28 first half points in the paint.

The Bulldogs came out in the second on a 13-5 run, giving them their biggest lead of the game 39-25 with 15:27 remaining. The Chanticleers defense kicked in, holding the Bulldogs scoreless for nearly six minutes in the second, as an Olivia Irick jumper put Coastal down 45-39 with 4:53 left in the game. The Bulldogs answered with the next four points to an Okoli lay-in and two Sheperd free-throws for a 49-39 advantage. Moss tried to get the Chants back into the game by hitting two shots from beyond the arc, the last with 1:27 to play, to cut the lead to 52-45, but that was as cloise as they would get. UNC Asheville was stellar at the free-throw line, shooting at 81 percent (17-of-21) in the second half to keep the game out of reach from the Chanticleers.

Bad shooting and rebounding plagued the Chanticleers as they went 33.9 percent (19-of-56) from the field, while being out rebounded 38-29 by the Bulldogs. Sydnei Moss had a game-high 20 points for the Chanticleers. The Chanticleers finished the game shooting a season-low 40 percent (4-for-10) from the foul line.

The Bulldogs had three players in double-figures with Lindsay Montgomery posting a double-double, scoring a team-high 13 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds. Okoli and Shepard finished the game 11 and 10 points, respectively. UNC Ashevile finished the game shooting 47.4 percent (18-of-38) and 69 percent (20-29) from the charity stripe.

The Chanticleers travel to High Point for a quick turnaround on Monday, January 4 at 4 p.m. in the Millis Center.