ATLANTA, Ga. – The Coastal Carolina women’s basketball team dropped its season opener 83-53 versus the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in Atlanta, Ga., on Monday afternoon. With the loss, the Chanticleers fall to 0-1 on the year, while GT moves to 1-0 overall with the win.
Coastal was led by graduate student Deaja Richardson with a team-high 15 points, while Dalanna Carter totaled nine points and Arin Freeman added eight points. The Chanticleers outrebounded Georgia Tech 42-37 as Alancia Ramsey grabbed 10 boards to lead the Chants.
The Yellow Jackets’ offense was paced by Kara Dunn and Tonie Morgan with 24 and 20 points, respectively, with Rusne Augustinaite (24) and Ines Noguero (10) also scoring in double digits. Morgan was the top rebounder with seven rebounds.
The Chants were 18-of-64 from the floor for 28.1 percent, including shooting 1-of-10 from behind the arc for 10 percent, while Georgia Tech was 33-of-64 from the field for 51.6 percent while hitting 7-of-24 from three-point range for 29.2 percent.
The Yellow Jackets opened a 10-0 advantage in the opening three minutes before CCU’s Freeman put the Chants on the scoreboard with a turn-around jump shot off a missed layup. Georgia Tech’s Augustinaite sandwiched Makaila Cange (6 points, 5 rebounds) going 1-of-2 from the free throw line as Coastal trailed 15-3.
The Chants’ Anaya Barney cut the deficit to 15-5 with a layup with 4:23 remaining in the first quarter. After a Yellow Jacket basket, Coastal cut the margin to 17-10 on a pullup jumper by Zaria Hurston and an old-fashioned three-point play by Carter just to see GT add a tally from the free throw line to lead 18-10 after the first quarter.
The second period began with a quick jump shot by Tech’s Noguero before the Chanticleers’ Richardson fired off five quick points with a jumper from long range and a pair of free throws to trail 20-15.
CCU’s Richardson continued to have the hot hand with the next three points off a driving layup with the and-1 to trail 22-18. However, the Yellow Jackets increased their lead with an 8-1 run to go up 30-19. The freshman duo of Ramsey and Riley Stack scored the next five points for the Chants at the free throw line and on a mid-range jumper to trail 34-24. Georgia Tech closed the first half action with an 8-0 surge to take a 42-24 halftime lead.
Coastal began the third quarter by sandwiching a Yellow Jacket three-pointer with jump shots by Freeman and Richardson to trail 45-28. After a layup by Georgia Tech, Cange added three points off a second old-fashion three-point play for CCU to trail 47-31. The Yellow Jackets responded with two quick made baskets to open a 20-point margin at 51-31.
CCU’s Richardson quickly recorded the next three points, as the Kernersville, N.C., native hit a pull up jumper and a 1-of-2 trip to the charity stripe to pull Coastal within 17. After a pull-up jump shot by Georgia Tech, Cange and Ramsey both found the bottom of the net in the paint to trail 53-38. The Yellow Jackets closed the third period with a 6-0 run for a 59-38 advantage.
Georgia Tech began the final quarter with a 16-4 burst to take a 75-42 lead with 4:27 remaining in regulation. Coastal’s Freeman and Carter sandwiched a pair of layups by D’asia Thomas-Harris to trail 79-46 with 3:15 remaining to play. As time was running down, the Chanticleers outscored the Yellow Jackets 7-4 for the final margin of 83-53.
Coastal Carolina will remain on the road for its next contest as the Chants will travel to Durham, N.C., to take on the Duke Blue Devils on Thursday, Nov. 9. The opening tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
Courtesy – CCU Athletics
