Coastal women fall 81-74 on the road to App State

BOONE, N.C. – The Coastal Carolina women’s basketball team fell 81-74 to the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Saturday afternoon in Boone, N.C. With the loss, the Chants dropped to 9-10 overall and 4-4 in Sun Belt Conference action, while App State improved to 8-11 on the season and 4-4 in league play with the win.

Coastal’s Angie Juste-Jean recorded a team-high 21 points, while Aja Blount and Anaya Barney added 19 and 11 points, respectively. Blount finished with a game-high five rebounds for her 22nd career double-double and fourth of the season. Helena Delaruelle had a team-high five assists.

As a team, Coastal was 28-of-56 from the floor for a 50.0 shooting percentage, including 8-of-21 from behind the three-point arc. The Chants outrebounded the home team 35-31 and finished 10-of-14 from the free throw line.

Appalachian State was led by Emily Carver with a career-high 27 points, while Alexis Black, Brooke Bigott, and Janay Sanders added 18, 14, and 10 points each. Carver led the Mountaineers with seven rebounds, while Faith Alston and Bigott each grabbed four boards for the home team.

Coastal raced out to the early 5-0 advantage as Juste-Jean hit back-to-back baskets, including a long-range three-point jump shot. After the two teams traded free throws, the Mountaineers cut the deficit to 7-6 with back-to-back layups just to see CCU’s Blount score the next five points for the 12-6 lead.

The Chanticleers scored six straight points by Arielle-Vadrelle Belinga, Jordyn Newsome, and Delaruelle for the 18-8 advantage following a pair of App State free throws. However, the homestanding Mountaineers closed first-quarter scoring with a 6-0 burst, as Black scored all six points.

Coastal Carolina began the second quarter with a mid-range jumper by Juste-Jean to push its lead to six at 20-14. Appalachian State cut the visitor’s advantage to two at 22-20 on three-point jumpers by Taylor Lewis and Bigott before the Chanticleers increased their lead to 28-20 with a 6-0 surge, highlighted by three consecutive layups.

The two teams traded the next eight baskets with CCU maintaining a five-point lead at 37-32 before the Chants would open up their largest lead at 12 points by scoring seven points unanswered. The Mountaineers finished the first-half scoring with a pair of three-point shots by Carver and Black, with Coastal ahead 44-38 at the halftime break.

The Chanticleers began the third quarter with Arin Freeman hitting 1-of-2 from the free throw line, which was followed by a Juste-Jean jump shot and a pull-up jumper by Freeman for an 11-point advantage at 49-38. However, App State took control and a 60-50 lead by closing the third period with a 22-1 run, which included forcing eight Coastal turnovers.

Despite trailing by 10 with 10 minutes remaining in regulation, Coastal Carolina cut the home team’s lead to five points at 60-55 on a driving layup by Deaja Richardson and a long-range three-point shot by Miriam Recarte. After an App State layup, CCU’s Blount cut the lead to three points at 62-59 with four straight points.

After the two teams traded three-point jump shots, the Mountaineers pushed their lead back to double digits at 72-62 with an 8-0 surge. Coastal, by way of a 9-2 run sparked by a Juste-Jean layup and capped with a mid-range jump shot by Blount, cut the lead to 74-72.

However, that would be as close as the Chants would get, as App State scored seven of the final 10 points including going 5-of-6 from the free throw line for the final margin of 81-74.

Coastal Carolina will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 26, as the Chanticleers will host James Madison in Conway, S.C. The opening tip is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.