South Carolina State dropped a tough non-conference contest 53-43 to Coastal Carolina Tuesday at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center in Orangeburg.

Leading the way for Coastal Carolina with a double-double was junior forward Kendra Reynolds with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while guard Amanda Stull chipped in 14 points and grabbed six boards.

Kristin Johnson, Le Teia Brailey, and Raina Chambers all added nine points for the Lady Bulldogs. Senior Jenell Moore grabbed nine rebounds, while Johnson pulled down seven in the losing effort.

Coastal Carolina jumped out to an 11 point lead, 14-3 on a jumper by Olivia Irick at the 10:47 mark. SC State cut the lead to five, 18-13 on a three-pointer by Brailey with 6:27 left in the first-half. A layup by  junior Devin Rivers with 2:43 left would the last basket scored to give Coastal Carolina a 24-18 lead at the half.

The Lady Chanticleers built another solid 11 point lead in the second-half 44-33 on a 3-pointer by Irick with 5:39 left in the game.  SC State sparked a 10-2 run to cut the lead to three, 46-43 on a jumper by senior Marie Reid with 1:57 left in the game.

Free-throws seemed to be the deciding factor down the stretch as Coastal Carolina shot 16-24 from the line to increase the lead to 10, 53-43 and hold on to the victory.

Coastal Carolina improves to 7-3, while SC State falls to 2-5 on the season.

The Lady Bulldogs will travel to Miami, Florida to take on Florida International on Monday. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.