Chants use season-high shooting to upend USC Upstate.
Dec. 30, 2010
Final Stats
SPARTANBURG, S.C.- Coastal Carolina women’s hoops defeated the USC Upstate Spartans 70-62 on the hot shooting of Kira Carter and Katie White to pick up its sixth win of the season.
The win improves the Chanticleers to .500 on the season at 6-6 and concludes the non-conference portion of the Chants season. Upstate falls to 5-5 on the season after suffering its first home defeat of the season.
Just four minutes into the game Coastal’s leading scorer, Sydnei Moss, went down with an injury but; Katie White and Kira Carter stepped up to the challenge of filling in for Moss’ 11 points per game as both recorded season-high scoring performances. Carter finished with a career-high 21 points while White quietly matched her career-high of 17 points in the contest.
Coastal proved to be the dominating team from early on in the game as the Chants only trailed for a total of 2:12 in the first period. Olivia Irick set the Chanticleers season best shooting performance, 54 percent from the field, in motion early as she knocked down a deep three for the opening basket of the contest.
Coastal used a 12-4 run over 6:03 in the first half to take command of the game for good to establish a 23-16 lead. During the run, Carter scored eight points with two coming from the charity stripe.
The Chants led 30-24 at the half after shooting a solid 50 percent from the floor and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. Coastal was led by White’s nine points, a season one-half best, and Carter’s eight points on 3-of-8 shooting.
After the intermission, Coastal extended its lead out to as many as 18 thanks to a 17-5 run through the first six minutes of the stanza. Through the stretch, six different Chanticleers contributed points.
USC Upstate mounted a comeback through the middle stages of the second half, but could not come within seven of the visiting Chants. Coastal then used eight free throws down the stretch to seal its final non-conference victory of the season.
Carter’s 21 points marked the third time she scored in double figures this season while Whites double digit performance was her second and far eclipsed her previous season best of 10 points. Irick also reached the double digit platform to mark the third time in four games that three Chants had scored 10-plus points in a game.
The Chanticleers shot an impressive 27-of-50 from the floor, 73.7 percent from the line, while collecting 41 boards and forcing 16 Upstate turnovers.
USC Upstate’s Chelsea McMillan led all scorers in the contest with 23 points on 7-of-17 from the floor and 9-of-10 from the line. The Spartans shot a dismal 32.2 percent from the field as they were held under 70 points for only the fourth time this season all of which resulted in losses.
The Chanticleers will return to the hardwood in the New Year on Jan. 3 to take on Presbyterian College in the team’s Big South Conference opener. Tip-off from Presbyterian’s Templeton Center Gym is set for 7 p.m.
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