Women's Basketball drops back-to-back games

The Chanticleers lost back-to-back home games for the first time this season, falling to Arkansas State and Arkansas-Little Rock over the weekend.

The Chanticleers fell to Arkansas State 70-63 on Thursday, Jan. 25 at the HTC Center.

The Chants led for over half the game by as many as 13 in the first quarter, but they weren't able to keep that lead down the stretch. The Red Wolves shot 40 percent from the field, and Coastal shot just 37 percent from the field. The Chants had its second-highest turnover total of the season with 24, but A-State was only able to get 15 points off those turnovers.

In the opening quarter, the Chants took a 21-10 lead. Junior guard Breelyn Landing led the team in the first quarter with seven points and two assists.

The Red Wolves outscored the Chants 13-5 in the second quarter. Coastal was held to two free throws for nine minutes. Freshman guard Kaylin West made a three-pointer at the end of the half to give the Chants a 26-23 lead.

Coastal went on an 8-2 run early on to start the third quarter, but A-State came back and went on a 15-4 run to take a four-point lead. A three-pointer from Blanding would tie the game in the final minute, and a layup from sophomore Dj Williams gave the Chants the lead again.

The fourth quarter included two ties and two lead changes. A-State hit two three-pointers that would eventually seal the game.

Sophomore Naheria Hamilton had a career high of 16 points and 13 rebounds, her fourth double-double of the season. West finished with 13 points. Blanding finished with 10 points, and Williams finished with 16 points and six assists.

The Chanticleers started off slow against Little Rock on Saturday, Jan. 27.

Little Rock started off early and had a 10-1 forcing the Chants to take a timeout, quickly. After the timeout, the Chants came out with more energy and was able to score 11 unanswered points in two minutes and take the lead. A three-pointer from Little Rock would give them a one-point lead to end the first quarter.

Little Rock took back the momentum and had nine-point lead. Senior Jas Adams responded with a three-point play and made a trip to the free-throw line just over a minute later. Little Rock would have the halftime lead at 29-22.

Coastal had momentum in the third quarter and their efforts and hustle allowed them to outscore Little Rock 12-5 in the first six minutes resulting in a tie. A pair of free throws from Dj Williams gave the Chants the lead but that lead did not last as Little Rock scored eight back-to-back points and was up by six. Freshman Alise Davis scored a layup at the end of the third to cut the lead down to four going into the last quarter.

The Chants would go on a 9-2 run in the final quarter, but it wasn’t enough. Naheria Hamilton would give the Chants their last score at the 2:07 mark. With one second left, Little Rock made a bucket to seal the game, 51-49.

Adams finished the game with 14 points. Davis ended with 11 points, and Hamilton had 10. Williams led all players with 11 rebounds, nine points, and six assists.

The Chanticleers will travel next week to take on Texas State at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 1 and then travel to Texas-Arlington to take on the Mavericks at 3:30 p.m.