Coastal Carolina women down South Carolina State at Myrtle Beach Convention Center

While it took a little while for Coastal Carolina to get going Friday night, the Chanticleers found their rhythm and never looked back.

South Carolina State stayed fairly close, though, as CCU’s largest lead was by just nine points, but the Chants took care of the ball and put away the Bulldogs for a 64-54 victory at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.

“I’m really proud of our student-athletes for coming out and performing, especially on [winter] break. We all know it’s really hard coming off of [final exams], but they did a great job out here,” said Coastal Carolina coach Jaida Williams, whose team turned the ball over just 12 times. “Of course, we need to do a little better rebounding, hitting free throws and taking care of the ball, although we did only have 12 turnovers to 16 assists. I was really proud of the assist-to-turnover [ratio]. And it’s really nice to get our first win in this venue [since 2009].”

It was a back-and-forth battle for much of the first half Friday, but the Chants took a two-point lead into the locker room and CCU never trailed for the remainder of the contest.

South Carolina State did get within six points on four occasions in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as the Bulldogs would get as the Chants closed out the win.

Rachael Gregory led the way for Coastal Carolina with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Kennedy Archer poured in 12 points and Alexis Robinson added 11. Naheria Hamilton also grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds to help CCU, and while Ced Gibson had a tough time getting shots to fall – she finished with seven points, four rebounds and four assists, but also recorded three steals to pace the Chants as they forced 21 turnovers.

“I think we had great defense and we did a great job of finding each other and playing with high energy,” said Gregory, who committed just one turnover in 38 minutes. “It did take us a little while to get going, but if we just play our game – getting rebounds and steals and that really propelled us in this one.”

Bryeasha Blair had a game-high 21 points, and Brittany Drumgoole chipped in 12 points and six rebounds to pace the Bulldogs, who outrebounded the Chants 42-37 and outscored them 16-10 inside the paint.

Both teams finished the game with a 35 percent shooting percentage from the field, while CCU had a 17-12 advantage in free throws.

“I think they are an extremely tough team,” Williams said of South Carolina State. “I think we did a good job of getting some of their key players in foul trouble early. I think it came down to executing and then boxing out and knowing our defensive assignments even though we slipped up there a couple times.”

As for what pushed Coastal Carolina to close this one out?

“It took our seniors hitting free throws, making sure we hit the boards as hard as possible, and just making sure we had our best defensive unit out there,” Williams said. “Offensively, that may have stagnated us a little bit. But our philosophy is if we can stop them, we win the game. … Ced struggled a little bit from the field, but her performance was huge and Rachael Gregory stepped up big time.”

Now with one game left at College of Charleston on Tuesday before a nine-day layoff due to the holidays, the Chants – who were coming off two straight losses – want to keep the momentum going.

“I’m really just excited about this team. It’s really good to get a win right before the holidays and we have one more game so we want to get that win before we go home,” Gregory said. “So we just have to stay together and play hard like we did tonight.”

This story was originally published December 16, 2016 at 10:16 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina women down South Carolina State at Myrtle Beach Convention Center."