CCU women’s basketball team upends Clemson
If the Coastal Carolina women’s basketball team didn’t get people’s attention with a wildy lopsided season-opening win over a non-NCAA opponent, well, the Chanticleers should have garnered some notice Sunday.
For just the second time in program history, the Chants earned a win over an ACC opponent as they rolled to a 63-47 victory at Clemson.
Junior forward Yasmin Miller and graduate guard/forward Rachael Gregory each scored 18 points and Coastal Carolina (2-0) forced 24 turnovers in the win.
“We’re not worried about [opening] anyone else’s eyes; we’re [focused] on playing Coastal basketball and we’re going to worry about getting better every day,” Chants coach Jaida Williams said by phone. “And hopefully we can string together some wins.”
Coastal Carolina finished 12-18 last season, but the team has looked incredibly sharp so far after opening with a 105-15 win over Mid-Atlantic Christian (a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association) and then following with this upset of Clemson.
Clemson (1-1) cut its deficit to 49-46 early in the fourth quarter, but the Chants held the Tigers to only one point the rest of the way as the hosts shot just 28.3 percent for the game.
I think for our student-athletes, it gives them an air of confidence and I’m really proud of their effort and execution on both the offensive and defensive ends.
CCU women’s basketball coach Jaida Williams
In addition to their 18 points each, Miller added five rebounds and Gregory had six rebounds and three steals. Both are new to the program this season as Miller arrived from Northeast Community College and Gregory transferred in from Buffalo.
“Both come from winning programs,” Williams said. “Rachael in particular, won a state championship. We started to lull a little in the second quarter and Rachael just took it to another level. And Yas, she only knows winning.”
Sophomore guard Jas Adams also had a nice game with eight points, 10 rebounds and four steals.
The only other time the Coastal Carolina women’s basketball program has defeated an ACC opponent was a 72-60 win at home over Wake Forest during the 1999-00 season.
“I think for our student-athletes, it gives them an air of confidence and I’m really proud of their effort and execution on both the offensive and defensive ends,” Williams said.
Ryan Young: 843-626-0318, @RyanYoungTSN
This story was originally published November 15, 2015 at 7:23 PM with the headline "CCU women’s basketball team upends Clemson."