Cougar Rally Falls Short, Lose to Coastal 58-51 - CofCSports.com--Official Web site of College of Charleston Athletics

Tuesday, December 20

Conway, SC

5pm

College of Charleston

Coastal Carolina

Cougar Rally Falls Short, Lose to Coastal 58-51 - CofCSports.com--Official Web site of College of Charleston Athletics

12/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

#articleRelated { display: none !important; } Senior Erica Irick scored 15 points in the final 20 minutes to lead the College of Charleston women's basketball team back from an 18-point second-half deficit only to fall short 58-51 to the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in action tonight at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The Cougars drop their third straight to go to 3-5 on the year, while the Chanticleers improve to 4-2 on the year.

The first half saw both teams trade baskets with the gap never going above four points until 3:41 left before intermission, with the game tied at 18, the Chanticleers went on a 9-2 run to head into the locker room with a seven-point 27-20 lead. Neither team shot well with the Cougars owning the slight .345 to .313 edge in shooting percentage. The only telling stat of the first half was the 11 turnovers by Charleston and the eight by Coastal. The Chanticleers were able convert those turnovers into 13 points as opposed to just four by the Cougars.

The second half opened the same way the first half ended, with a big run by the Chanticleers. They opened the half with a 13-2 run over the first 3:39 minutes to go up 40-22. Coastal Carolina was able to keep the margin in double figures for most of the second half until 5:56 left in the game when the Cougars went on a 14-1 run over the next five-and-a-half minutes to cut the Chanticleer lead to five. With just 24 second left after that the Cougars ran out of time and lost by seven, 58-51.

Charleston edged Coastal in shooting percentage, .373 to .328 but went 1-for-10 from three-point range, as opposed to 5-for-15 for the home team. Coastal Carolina led in rebounding 44-39 and had two less turnovers, 16-14.

Cougar Irick led all scores with 23 points, while Melissa Chambers followed for the Cougars with seven. She also led the team with six rebounds. Kim Turner, who had 13 points in the second half, led Coastal with 17 points and eight rebounds, followed by Calisha Yates with 12 on the night.

The Cougars take a break for Christmas and will resume action Dec. 31st at North Carolina. Game time is set for 2:00 PM.