CCU women edge out Arkansas State for first-ever Sun Belt victory

The Coastal Carolina women’s basketball team has notched its first Sun Belt Conference win.

But it didn’t come without a challenge.

Arkansas State led by as much as 11 points in the second quarter, but the Chanticleers fought back and took a narrow 57-55 victory in a game that went down to the wire at the HTC Center.

“It was an emotional win. As a team, we just pulled together and came away with our first conference win,” Coastal Carolina junior Jas Adams said. “The offense was a little shaky, but we came together to earn this win. We wanted it bad.”

That was evident, especially late in the game.

The Red Wolves extended their lead to 10 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. However, the Chants made a strong push and a Ced Gibson free throw finished a 12-1 run as Coastal Carolina was within just one point in the final minutes.

The Chants took their first lead since the first quarter as redshirt freshman DJ Williams hit a layup with just under two minutes to play.

And CCU had all the momentum.

“At that point, we knew we were going to win the game,” Adams said. “Everyone just did their jobs, and it was a beautiful to watch and be a part of.”

Neither team landed a bucket over the next minute and a half, and a free throw by Chants senior Alexis Robinson with three seconds left put Coastal ahead by the final margin.

Gibson finished with a game-high 13 points, while Naheria Hamilton, Williams and Adams had 10 points apiece to pace the Chants.

Coastal Carolina protected the ball as it forced 26 turnovers while commiting allowing just 16 itself, and the Chants outscored the Red Wolves 22-15 in points of turnovers. Arkansas State managed to get just five steals, while the Chants had 19 takeaways.

Both teams now move to 1-3 in the Sun Belt Conference, and Coastal Carolina will be back in action next Saturday for another conference challenge against Appalachian State.

“We’re coming together and we have a lot of talent – hidden talent at that,” Adams said. “We just need some consistency and we’ll be good down the stretch. We have Appalachian State coming up, but that’s not for a week so we’re definitely going to celebrate this win.”

This story was originally published January 7, 2017 at 7:45 PM with the headline "CCU women edge out Arkansas State for first-ever Sun Belt victory."