CCU

Women's Basketball Fall To UNC Wilmington, Despite Reddick's Broken Record

       

Women's Basketball Fall To UNC Wilmington, Despite Reddick's Broken Record

WILMINGTON, N.C.- The Coastal Carolina University women’s basketball team (4-3) struggled on offense for the second straight game as the Lady Chants fell to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (3-3) 47-33 Dec. 16, at Trask Coliseum in Wilmington, N.C. It was an historic night for Coastal Carolina as senior Nikki Reddick (Hartsville, S.C./Hartsville) became the school’s all-time leading scorer with 11:26 remaining in the second half. Reddick now has 1,642 points, replacing Sherry Barnhill (1979-82) on the top of the list.

The game was defensively driven throughout as both teams failed to break 30 percent from the field. UNC Wilmington, who never trailed in the game, opened the scoring with six points from Cherie Lea. Reddick answered with four points in the first nine minutes as half way through the first frame, UNCW had a 10-6 lead. Coastal trailed by only three points after two free throws from senior Whitney Shearer (Monticello, Ky./Wayne County) at 5:03, but the Lady Seahawks went on a 7-0 run to extend the lead to 23-11 at the 2:41 mark. Sophomore Amber Rose (Baxter, Tenn./Upperman) hit a three-pointer with 38 seconds to cut the lead to 25-15 at the break.

Senior Crystal Brown’s (Mineral Wells, W.Va./Parkersburg South) jumper at 18:10 of the second half cut the Seahawk lead to nine at 26-17, but UNCW upped the margin to 16 points at 12:20 on three free throws by Lea. Reddick had the basket to break the record at 11:26 and scored 10 more points in the second half. Coastal had multiple chances to cut the lead to single digits, but could not get the baskets to fall.

Reddick had 20 points, four steals and two blocks for Coastal. Reddick, who also is ninth on the Big South career scoring list, has been in double figures in scoring all seven games this season. Rose added five points and Crystal Brown had seven rebounds. The 33 points is the lowest total scored by Coastal since a 57-33 loss to Liberty University in the 2002 Big South Tournament championship game.

Lea led all scorers with 24 points and 16 rebounds.

Coastal shot 23.2 percent from the field, shooting under 30 percent for the second straight contest. The Lady Chants did hold UNCW to 29.8 percent from the floor, but the Sehawks converted 18 points from the free-throw line, compared to four for the Lady Chants. Coastal had 12 steals and forced 19 turnovers in the hustle department.

Coastal will be a part of the Carolinas Women’s Challenge Saturday, Dec. 20, against the University of Lousiana at Lafayette at 1 p.m., in the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.