College of Charleston
Coastal Carolina
Cougars knock Coastal Carolina from ranks of unbeatens with 72-58 victory
11/25/2008 5:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Junior guard Ericka Williams (Blackville, S.C.) delivered career-highs of 17 points and 12 rebounds for her first career double-double as the College of Charleston women's basketball team (3-1) handed Coastal Carolina (4-1) its first loss of the season with an impressive 72-58 victory Tuesday evening in Charleston, S.C.
Trailing 32-31 at the half, Charleston gave up a quick Chanticleers basket coming out of the break to make it 34-31. From there, it was all Cougars as they took complete control of the game with a dominating 19-0 run over a span of 5:44 and pulled ahead 50-34 with 13:41 to play.
A three-pointer by sophomore guard Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) ignited the rally and Williams fanned the flames as she proceeded to score 14 of the Cougars 19 points, including the last 11. Coastal Carolina would eventually close to within 62-51 but Charleston would maintain a double-digit lead the rest of the way as they closed out the game for a 72-58 victory.
In the first half, it was a much closer affair as the Chanticleers controlled the first six minutes of play and pulled out to a 15-10 advantage with 14:06 remaining. A 7-1 run keyed by a pair of free throws and a layup by Williams gave the Cougars their first lead of the game at 17-16 with 10:26 left in the half.
The teams would continue to battle back-and-forth as consecutive buckets gave Coastal the lead back at 20-17 before CofC responded with a tying three-pointer by senior forward Nikki Williams (North, S.C.) at the 7:02 mark. With CCU leading 25-22, the Cougars used a 7-0 run to claw back ahead at 29-26 with 1:16 to play in the half before sophomore forward Jessica Noll sparked a 6-2 run to close out the half and give Coastal Carolina a 32-31 lead heading into the break.
Sophomore guard Kate Jasinski lead the Chanticleers with a game-high 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting and added five rebounds and four steals while sophomore forward Sydnei Moss finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Amanda Stull was the only player to reach double-figures in points for Coastal with 11.
For Charleston, Ericka Williams posted career-highs of 17 points and 12 rebounds for her first career double-double while Nikki Williams also reached double-figures in both categories with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Junior guard Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.) totaled 13 points and added a game-high six assists while Tonia Gerty added a solid all-around performance with seven points, five rebounds and four assists.
The Cougars return to action on Saturday, November 29 when they host Georgia State at 2:00 p.m. at Carolina First Arena.
NOTES
The game was the first for the College of Charleston's women's program in the brand new Carolina First Arena ... Ericka Williams career-highs of 17 points and 12 rebounds surpassed her previous totals of 12 points set against Johns Hopkins on January 3, 2007 and five rebounds against North Carolina on November 27, 2007 ... Williams earned a majority of her points from the foul line as she went 11-14 from the charity stripe, passing her previous highs of three makes and four attempts ... Nikki Williams 15 points and 14 rebounds represents her eighth career double-double ... the victory snapped a three-game losing streak to the Chanticleers and was the first for the Cougars since a 59-54 decision on December 19, 2004 ... The 3-1 record gives the Cougars their best start since beginning the 2001-02 season 4-0.
