Coastal Carolina University’s women’s basketball team is set to play South Alabama at the HTC Center on Saturday, January 17. The game will start at 1:00 p.m. ET and will be available for viewing on ESPN+ and the Chanticleer Sports Network.
The Chanticleers currently have an overall record of 8-10 and are 1-5 in Sun Belt Conference play. Despite their conference record, they are ranked sixth among Sun Belt teams in the NCAA NET rankings at 120. Last week, Coastal split two road games, winning against Appalachian State with a score of 69-53 and losing to Marshall 80-74. In the game against Marshall, Coastal made 46% of their field goals and hit eight three-pointers out of 21 attempts.
Coastal Carolina is recognized as one of the most active three-point shooting teams in the country, ranking 17th nationally with an average of 9.2 made three-pointers per game and placing 35th with about 25.7 attempts per contest. They also rank 59th nationally by scoring an average of 74.8 points per game over their first eighteen games.
Kristin Williams leads the Chanticleers in scoring with an average of 14.2 points per game this season. She has increased her output during conference play, averaging nearly seventeen points across six Sun Belt matchups so far. Williams is also notable for her long-range shooting ability: “She leads the country with 3.3 three-pointers per game and ranks second in the Sun Belt in three-point percentage (44%).” Williams currently stands at a career total of 996 points between her time at UMass and Coastal Carolina.
Tessa Grady joins Williams among national leaders for made three-pointers; Williams is second in total threes made (60), while Grady is tied for twenty-third (47).
South Alabama enters Saturday’s matchup with a record of nine wins and seven losses overall, holding a conference mark of two wins and four losses that places them ninth in the Sun Belt standings. Cordasia Harris leads South Alabama with an average of nearly fourteen points per game this season, while Yolisha Jackson serves as head coach in her third year after going six-and-twenty-four last season.
This meeting marks the seventeenth contest between Coastal Carolina and South Alabama, with each team having won eight times previously. The last encounter was on January 4, 2025, when Coastal won by fifteen points in Mobile, Alabama; they have won all four meetings since early 2022.
Head Coach Kevin Pederson has described his team’s approach as “Coastal Chaos,” referencing a focus on aggressive defense designed to disrupt opponents’ rhythm: “The stats backed up the chaotic defense, as the Chants led the Sun Belt with twenty point three turnovers forced per game and ranked second in steals per game with ten point eighty-eight.” This year’s squad forces just over twenty turnovers each outing—good for sixtieth nationally—and holds a turnover margin above two.
Pederson reached his five-hundredth career win on December twenty-ninth against Columbia College: “He holds fifty-six victories at Coastal, the fastest coach in program history to reach that mark.”
Fans can follow updates about CCU women’s basketball through social media or visit www.GoCCUsports.com for more information.
