BALTIMORE, Md. – Coppin State cruised to their third MEAC victory with a 65-57 win over North Carolina A&T on Saturday, January 14
th inside the Physical Education Complex. Three Eagles scored in double figures led by senior
Keena Samuels' game-high 17 points.
The Eagles move to 3-13 overall and 3-1 in MEAC play, while the Aggies fall to 5-12 overall and 1-3 in league play.
Coppin State posted their best shooting percentage at the free-throw line (78.9%) against NC A&T. CSU's Samuels tied a career-high with eight rebounds playing the entire 40-minutes of action. She made 6-of-14 shots from the field and 5-of-6 free-throws in her 10
th double-digit scoring performance of the season. Graduate
Tiara Goode scored 14 points hitting four three-pointers, red-shirt junior
Genesis Lucas finished with 11 points and five assists and freshman
Chance Graham grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds and scored nine points.
The Eagles bench was anchored by senior
Vanessa Neal's eight points and junior
Oluwaseun Adeniji had three points and five rebounds.
Coppin State's defense held NC A&T to three made shots from the field in the first quarter and into six turnovers. The Eagles held a 16-8 lead after the quarter as Goode made a pair of three-pointers and Samuels also had six points. In the second quarter CSU converted on 7-of-8 free-throws and the scoring was paced by Neal's six points off of the bench. NC A&T trailed by as many as 15 (30-15) with 1:18 to go in the half and they also made a three-pointer at the halftime horn trimming the Eagles lead to 14 (32-18).
In the second half, the CSU backcourt of Samuels and Lucas did a good job of keeping the momentum on the Eagles side. The Aggies came out in the third quarter and were able to bring the deficit to eight (38-30) by the midway mark. Lucas responded with her only three-pointer of the game pushing the lead back to double-digits (41-30) with 3:14 to go in the quarter. CSU made three shots from long range in the third period and carried a 47-31 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Lucas went 3-for-5 from the field in the final period while the Aggies picked up the intensity. NC A&T outscored CSU 26-18 in the period but the Eagles got to the free-throw line and made 6-of-9 attempts. A late three-pointer from the Aggies with 2:03 left cut the lead to 60-57. Samuels responded with a jumper in the lane stretching the lead and then late free-throws by Neal sealed the Eagles third conference win of the season, 65-57 over the Aggies.
Coppin State heads to Washington, DC on Monday, January 16
th for a meeting with the Howard Bison at 2 p.m. The Eagles trail the all-time series with the Bison 38-28 and won the first of two meetings last season on the road 83-67 on January 9, 2016 before losing at home 71-69 on Feb. 13, 2016.
