Women's Basketball | 2/22/2015 6:46:00 PM
BALTIMORE – The Coppin State women's basketball team plays its penultimate road game Monday night when it visits Hampton University beginning at 5:30 p.m. It will be the first meeting between the two teams since last season's classic Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) title game, won by the Lady Pirates, 50-47.
Coppin State (5-19 overall, 4-9 MEAC) will try to bounce back from Saturday's 67-57 loss to Norfolk State.
Genesis Lucas scored a team-high 14 points while
Janelle Lane and
Amber Griffin added 12 points each for the Lady Eagles. Coppin State blocked a season-high nine shots against Norfolk State.
Lucas has led Coppin State in scoring five times this season. She has scored in double figures in nine of her 10 starts this season. Since entering the starting line-up on Jan. 19, Lucas is averaging 13.3 points per contest, 4.9 assists per game and 3.9 rebounds. She is also making 45.6 percent of her shots over that span.
Griffin tied her career-high scoring total for the second straight game. It was the ninth time this season that Griffin has reached double digits in scoring. She also had five assists and five rebounds against Norfolk State. With 279 career assists, Griffin is fourth all-time in Coppin State women's basketball history. She needs five assists to move past Sesalie Johnson and into third place on CSU's assist chart.
Hampton (14-11, 10-2) has won five consecutive MEAC Tournament championships. The Lady Pirates extended their season-winning streak to five games by defeating Delaware State, 74-61, Saturday night. Hampton sits in first place in the MEAC, a game ahead of Savannah State.
Sophomore guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas led the Lady Pirates with 28 points on 10-for-23 shooting, while also grabbing five steals. Junior guard Ryan Jordan added 12 points and grabbed six rebounds, while senior guard Kenia Cole collected 10 points and five assists.
Senior guard Kyani White dished out six assists and had six steals.
Tate-DeFreitas leads the MEAC in scoring (21.5 points per game). She has scored 20 or more points 21 times this season, including in Hampton's last six games. White is the Lady Pirates' only other double digit scorer at 11.1 points per game.
Hampton is scoring at a 63.0 point per game clip this season. During their five-game winning streak, the Lady Pirates are outscoring their opponents by 19 points. Hampton is 6-3 at home this season. However, two of those home losses were to previously top-ranked South Carolina and to unbeaten Princeton.
Coppin State plays its final road game against Morgan State Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
