BALTIMORE – While a persistent drizzle and heavy mist fell outside of the Physical Education Complex Sunday afternoon, senior guard
Amber Griffin brought the rain with a torrential downpour of timely buckets to help Coppin State defeat visiting Mount St. Mary's, 66-55, in a non-conference women's basketball game.
Griffin had the game of her life in finishing with a career-high 21 points on 8-for-9 shooting from the field. She fired in a pair of 3-pointers during a decisive third quarter surge that gave Coppin State the lead for good. The energetic Griffin also chipped in with five rebounds in 36 brilliant minutes.
Making the moment special for Griffin was that one of her close friends, senior
Jordan Swails notched her fourth career double-double with 11 points and a career best 16 rebounds. Swails was an equal opportunity board snatcher, finishing with eight offensive and defensive rebounds.
"This win was important because we're at home and we must protect our court," Griffin said. "We had a good team effort today and it was fun to see everybody contribute to our win. We have to finish games and it was good to be able to do that today. This was a critical win especially with us getting ready to go on the road (later in the week)."
Like last week's contest against Towson, a mature, focused and poised Coppin State made winning plays down the stretch and finished with a flourish. The Mount closed to 51-50 with 6 minutes, 57 seconds remaining. It was all Coppin from there. Griffin hit a jumper to begin a closing 15-5 CSU burst to the finish line.
During Coppin State's fourth quarter surge,
Vanessa Neal had a huge blocked shot. Swails made a great play by ripping the ball from a Mount defender and scoring a key basket to extend Coppin State's lead to 63-55 with 1:51 remaining.
"I liked seeing our team come through again in the fourth quarter like we did last week," veteran Coppin State head coach
Derek Brown said. "The team is beginning to build some confidence unlike last year when we were apprehensive about how to win coming down the stretch. We lost a lot of games like that last year but they're able to turn that around and do some positive things."
Like an unsuspecting summer deluge, Griffin quickly scored her points in bunches and left the Mount drenched. In the third quarter, Griffin made consecutive 3-pointers in a 36-second span to kickstart a quick 8-0 burst that reversed a 41-39 deficit.
Griffin provided a sneak peek of her explosive powers during the second quarter. After Mount St. Mary's tied the game at 19-19 with 5:45 remaining, Griffin scored seven straight points to keep Coppin State close.
"I am a senior," Griffin said. "This is my last year to make something happen. I am out there right now having fun playing. I have been shooting the ball with more confidence lately. I am out there having fun."
Janelle Lane and
Genesis Lucas, playing for the first time since Nov. 16, scored nine points each for the Lady Eagles. Resembling a much prettier looking Grinch, Lucas finished with a career best six steals. She also dished a season best five assists.
Keena Samuels continued her strong play with eight points.
In her last two games, Griffin is scorching the nets with 36 points on 60 percent shooting. It was Griffin's third consecutive double digit outing. Her performance helped Coppin State extend its winning streak to two games and avenge last year's defeat to the Mount.
"Last year the transition from point guard to shooting guard, really took her through a loop," Brown said of Griffin. "She's getting more comfortable now where she is when we run our offense."
