Women's Basketball | 11/12/2014 12:41:00 PM
BALTIMORE – The Coppin State women's basketball team enters the 2014-15 season seeking its fourth consecutive winning season.
Under veteran coach
Derek Brown, Coppin State has established a culture of excellence and everybody associated with the program expects that to continue despite the graduation of three impactful seniors who combined to score 59.7 percent of the Eagles' points.
The Eagles return seven players from last season's team that won 17 games and advanced to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship game.
The returnees are 6 foot senior forward
Bria Harris, 5-11 junior forward
Janelle Lane, 5-10 junior forward
Jordan Swails, 6-0 junior forward
Tanaysa Henderson, 6-3 sophomore center
Omaah Tayong and 5-3 junior guard
Amber Griffin along with 5-7 sophomore guard
Keena Samuels.
They all made meaningful contributions to last year's success and will be counted on to help Coppin State continue its winning ways. Each player also started at least one game at one point last season. Griffin and Harris are potential candidates for preseason All-MEAC consideration.
"We have a solid group of veterans who know the system here and are looking to create their own identity as a team," Brown said. "They have all worked hard over the summer. I know we'll compete hard every night and give ourselves an opportunity to enjoy some success this season."
Harris averaged 5.2 points and 3.7 rebounds last season. She scored in double figures five times. Harris tallied a season-high 12 points twice against Virginia Union and Florida A&M. Griffin led the Eagles in assists with 138 while averaging 5.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. She also led the MEAC in assist to turnover ratio (1.7) and was fourth in the MEAC in assists per game (4.6). She enters the season with 197 career assists.
Tayong led the team with 33 blocked shots and was seventh in the MEAC in blocked shots per game (1.1). She made her first collegiate start memorable by notching her first career double-double of 10 points and a career-high 23 rebounds in a 68-53 victory over Savannah State. That was an effort that earned her MEAC Defensive Player of the Week recognition.
Lane averaged 5.8 points and 4.6 rebounds while making 50 percent of her shots (75-for-150) on the season. Lane started 10 of CSU's final 11 games. She posted her first career double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) against South Carolina State.
Swails was fourth on the team with 34 assists. She scored a career high 16 points in a win over Delaware State. In a dramatic 57-55 win over North Carolina A&T in the MEAC semifinals, Swails scored eight points in 13 minutes to help the Eagles rally from an 11-point second half deficit.
Henderson averaged 2.8 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while Samuels contributed 1.9 points and 1.2 rebounds per game. Brown is also excited about his newcomers as 5-7 redshirt freshman guard
Genesis Lucas, 6-3 freshman center
Oluwaseun Adeniji, 5-11 freshman forward
Candice Beverly, and 5-8 freshman guard D'ajahnae Smith are expected to make immediate impacts.
Adeniji anchored the defense while helping Curtis High to a first place finish in the Staten Island A league and 13 wins. Beverly, who was named first team all-area in Fredericksburg (Va.) according to FLSvarsity.com, led Riverbend to 15 wins while leading the team in scoring (15.8 points per game) and rebounding (7.4 rebounds per game). A quick and versatile forward from Miami, Smith averaged 12 points and 11 rebounds in her last two seasons at American High.
"I think they will be able to play right away," Brown said. "We are looking for some size, we have some size in Adeniji and we have a shooter in D'ajahnae and we have a wing player in
Candice Beverly."
As for the 2014-15 schedule, a home date against Final Four participant Maryland along with eight other teams that competed in the 2014 postseason highlight the Eagles' slate.
Coppin State will play games against schools from eight different conferences while being tested by six teams coming off of 20-win seasons (Big 12 co-regular season champion West Virginia, Maryland, N.C. State, Robert Morris, Georgia and VCU). All six of Coppin State's December opponents participated in postseason a year ago. The Eagles' home opener is on Tuesday, November 25 against Robert Morris.
The Eagles will play 11 non-conference games and 16 Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference games with a big road showdown and rematch of last year's MEAC title game against Hampton on Mon. Feb. 23. That will be the teams' only regular season meeting. Coppin State begins conference play on Monday, Jan. 5 when it visits Norfolk State.
"This is probably the toughest schedule that we've had here in a few years," Brown said. "There are some tough games on our schedule. As always, we're looking forward to competing at a high level and we know playing this type of schedule will prepare us for the MEAC."
