Box Score CONWAY, S.C. - Charleston Southern saw their season come to an end in the first round of the 2014 VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Conference Championships as CSU fell to No. 6 seed Coastal Carolina on Tuesday night, 106-71.
Charleston Southern mounted a minor comeback in the second half, using a 9-0 run sparked by a three-pointer by CSU's Kirklin Kirkpatrick to cut the game back to within 69-48 with 13:31 to play in the contest, but the Chanticleers offense down the stretch proved to be the difference as Coastal Carolina outscored CSU 37-23 the rest of the way in closing out the tournament win.
In a night that saw Henry become just the 12th player in Coastal Carolina history to break the 1,000 point scoring plateau, she also became the first player in Big South Tournament history to record a triple-double in a tournament game with 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists
Puckett added a double-double with career highs of 28 points and 13 rebounds, while Jordan added 26 points and seven boards in the Coastal Carolina win.
The Chanticleers advance to Thursday's quarterfinal action, taking on No. 3 seed Winthrop at 8 p.m. inside The HTC Center. Charleston Southern sees their season come to an end with an 8-22 record.
Coastal Carolina went on a 24-9 run to end the first half, led by 22 first half points by Henry, in shooting 61.1 percent from the floor and building a 54-35 halftime advantage.
Henry scored 11 points during the stretch, while teammate Alexx Puckett had nine of her 19 first half points as the Chants held the Bucs to two field goals from the floor over the final 7:07 of the half in building the 19 point halftime advantage.
A slow start marked the first half as both teams struggled from the floor following the opening possession. Rochelle Brophy connected on a jumper from the top of the key for the Bucs, while Katelyn Connor answered for Coastal Carolina on the other end, but those were the lone baskets for either team over the first four minutes before CSU's Tatum Jarvis connected on the three-pointer from the left wing at the 15:47 mark.
The shots weren't falling early, but the teams' moved their focus toward the inside, combining for 45 points inside the paint in the first half (30 Coastal, 15 Charleston Southern) as the offenses started to take over the contest.
With the score at 19-18 in favor of the Chants following a layup by CSU's Dotson, Coastal Carolina went on a 9-2 run in building a 28-20 lead. Henry scored five during the stretch for the Chants, including a step-back three-pointer from the top of the key and scored on the fast break layup to stretch out the lead.
Erin Bratcher answered on the opposite end for the Buccaneers with her first two three-pointers of the game, connecting from the left wing and the right corner to narrow the margin to two. Henry and Alyssa Mann swapped layups putting the score at 30-28 with 7:33 to play in the half, leading to the Chanticleers run to end the first half that sealed the game.
Dotson led three Buccaneers in double-digits with 15 points in the game, while Erin Bratcher had 13 points, including three three-pointers in her final collegiate game. Tatum Jarvis provided a spark for CSU early in the contest and finish with 12 points.
Coastal Carolina out-rebounded the Buccaneers 40-32 on the night and held the 50-29 advantage on points in the paint in sealing the CCU victory.