Chanticleers go cold from field in loss to Gardner-Webb

Asked what went wrong for her team Saturday afternoon, Coastal Carolina women’s basketball coach Jaida Williams opted to keep things rather simple.

“We have to knock down shots, that’s all there is too it, really,” she said.

Going for their fourth win in a row, the Chanticleers went cold from the field, shooting 27.5 percent in a 61-51 loss to Big South foe Gardner-Webb.

“We had only 10 turnovers, rebounded pretty well and got 18 offensive rebounds, and knocked down 10 of our 11 free throws,” the coach said. “But we just couldn’t knock down wide-open shots, and you’re going to have games like that. There’s not much you can do about it.”

Early on, it seemed Coastal Carolina would continue its recent roll, getting nine points from guard Ced Gibson in the first quarter. Such momentum would be stymied late in the period, however, when she was called for her second foul.

Gardner-Webb would take advantage of her being out of the game, using its guards to get inside the lane for easy dishes to post players or forcing Chanticleer fouls.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs would walk to the charity stripe 19 times in the first half, knocking down 11 of them. Meanwhile, Coastal Carolina had only five free throw attempts in the game’s first 20 minutes.

Nevertheless, the Chanticleers led by a point at halftime, 30-29.

Having already asserted themselves in the first half, Olivia Parker and Candace Brown put her stamp on the game in the final two periods.

Knowing the foul trouble Coastal Carolina was in, the Gardner-Webb forwards continued to aggressively drive to the basket, resulting in easy points.

Parker finished with a double-double, scoring 16 points and bringing in 16 rebounds. Parker had a game-high 21 points — 10 of which came in the second half — and nine rebounds for the game.

“They did a good job, a real good job with their toughness,” Williams said. “Parker is very hard to stop, she’s a good player, an all-conference type of player. They came in on the road and did a phenomenal job.”

For Coastal Carolina, Gibson and and Jas Adams led the way with 12 points apiece. Kennedy Archer also finished in double figures with 10.

With only a few games left before the conference tournament, Williams hopes this game was more of an anomaly rather than a trend for her team.

“We can’t be the type of team we want to be when our shots don’t fall,” she said. “Hopefully that will be different when we take on Longwood (on Tuesday).”

This story was originally published February 27, 2016 at 9:08 PM with the headline "Chanticleers go cold from field in loss to Gardner-Webb."