Myrtle Beach, S.C. ? A gritty second half comeback was not enough to bring the Stetson women's basketball team (4-5) its fourth straight victory as the Hatters fell 51-49 to Coastal Carolina at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center Saturday afternoon. Sophomore guard Brittany Carannante (Clearwater, Fla.) scored 12 points for Stetson while sophomore center Jessica Conner (Cocoa, Fla.) tied her career high with 11 rebounds.
Trailing 26-19 at halftime, the Hatters were able to gather themselves within two points with 12:25 left before tying it 33-33 on a Sharnesha Smith (Kingsland, Ga.) bucket with 10:30 to play and going ahead 36-35 on a conventional three-point play from Carannante a minute later. Stetson led by as many as four before the three-point shooting of Jessica Noll took that lead away.
The game remained in doubt into the final minutes as the final media timeout arrived at the 2:54 mark showing the Hatters behind 45-44. Stetson tied it coming out of the break on a Conner free throw but Sydnei Moss struck right back for the Chanticleers with the basket that gave CCU the lead for good. Stetson had the ball with a chance to tie with approximately 15 seconds left but could not get the ball to fall in the hoop. After a foul, CCU's Amanda Stull missed the front end of a one-and-one and senior center Ayesha Barkley (East Orange, N.J.) rebounded with three seconds left to give the Hatters one last chance, but could find no better shot than a Jessica Bivins heave from inside halfcourt that was well short at the buzzer.
Junior forward Ashli Jackson (Opelika, Ala.) added 10 points for the Hatters and Smith tallied eight. Noll paced the Chanticleers with 20 points on four of seven three-point shooting. Moss contributed seven points and 13 rebounds.
Defense was the story of the day early on as the score stood at just 2-1 in favor of Coastal Carolina more than four minutes into the game. The Hatters did not register their first field goal until Carannante made a layup at the 14:01 mark to make it a 4-3 game. Barkley converted a driving basket two possessions later to give Stetson its first lead at 5-4. After a trade of buckets, the Hatters held a 7-6 lead at the second media timeout with 11:49 to play in the half.
A three-pointer by Jackson gave Stetson a 16-15 lead with 5:40 left in the half but a 11-1 Chanticleer run immediately afterwards allowed CCU to take a 26-19 advantage into the locker room at halftime. Noll led all scorers with seven points for Coastal while Barkley and Tierra Brown had (Orlando, Fla.) five each for the Hatters. Conner grabbed a team-high six rebounds for Stetson while Moss came away with seven for CCU.
Stetson will be back in action Monday evening at Volusia County rival Bethune-Cookman. Tip-off from Moore Gymnasium is slated for 5 p.m. Hatter Vision broadcaster Bill Topping will provide all the action online at www.GoHatters.com, the official online home of Stetson Athletics.
