Coastal Carolina’s women’s basketball team claimed their first win of the season in commanding fashion, defeating Lees-McRae College 111-53 Sunday at the HTC Center.
The Chanticleers set the tone early, winning the tip-off and running aggressive plays from the start. The crowd’s energy matched the team’s intensity, mirroring Coastal’s determination to come out on top against the Bobcats.
Coastal opened the game with a free throw, followed by a 3-pointer from forward Tessa Grady.
The Chants’ early momentum carried throughout the first half of the game, outpacing the Bobcats 27-15. Grady, a recent transfer from Wisconsin-Madison, gave her team offensive stability, leading with 23 points and allowing the defense to focus on their technique.
“Coach P and the coaching staff have always been recruiting good players, but also good people, and I think that helps a lot that we’re all super good people, all of the entire program really, and just stick together and having fun,” Grady said.
Coastal’s offense thrived on sharpshooting, primarily gaining their points in the first quarter through penalty shots and 3-pointers.
“We haven’t shot the ball well in our first two games and we’ve been getting a lot of open shots, just knocking down those open shots finally was fun. Everyone did their part,” CCU guard Paige Bradley said.
Lees-McRae struggled to sink their shots and break through CCU’s defense, scoring a layup in the final five minutes of the first quarter.
Coastal led 58-23 at halftime.
Coastal maintained control in the second half, dominating the boards and playing disciplined defense.
The Chants led 81-34 after three quarters.
The game was paused briefly late in the third quarter when Lees-McRae guard Kaylee Carson went down with injury and was removed from the game.
Coastal’s Grady later exited with a lower leg injury but appeared to fine on the bench.
Working their way to a win in the fourth quarter, Coastal continued to rely on their forwards and hit numerous 3-pointers.
With less than two minutes on the clock, CCU guard Hennessey Luu-Brown suffered a serious injury to her leg, making her unable to walk off the court.
Despite the setbacks, Coastal finished the game 111-53, leaving the Bobcats trailing behind.
“We don’t take elevators; we take the stairs,” CCU women’s head coach Kevin Pederson said. “It’s just a blue-collar working mentality with everything we do, and I think that shows in and out. These girls play hard every time they step on the floor and we’re super proud to be part of that program.”
The Chanticleers, now 2-1, look to build on their win in the coming weeks on the road. Coastal will host their next home game against Presbyterian College at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, at the HTC Center.
