Lady Eagles Ready For MEAC Home Opener

BALTIMORE- The Coppin State women's basketball team will open the New Year with its first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) home matchup of the season. The Lady Eagles will host the Norfolk State Spartans on Monday evening January 4 with tipoff at 6:00 p.m. in the Physical Education Complex Arena.
 
Coppin State leads the all-time series against Norfolk State 24-7, with both teams splitting wins on the other's floor last season.
 
Coppin State (3-9) is coming off a win against Lafayette College in the UVA Cavalier Classic, snapping a six game losing streak for the Lady Eagles.
 
Senior forward Omaah Tayong earned all-tournament honors for her performances in two games against the University of Virginia and Lafayette.
 
Tayong averaged nine points and nine rebounds during the tournament, including scoring 10 points and 12 rebounds against Lafayette. It was her second double double of the season. She leads the Lady Eagles with 95 rebounds on the season.
 
Tayong is fifth in the MEAC shooting 48.4% accuracy from the floor.
 
Overall, Coppin State has six players averaging at least 8.0 points per game this season.
 
Janelle Lane leads CSU with 10.6 points per outing. She also leads Coppin State shooting 49.0% from the field, which is fourth in the MEAC. Lane is third on the team in rebounds averaging 5.0 per game.
 
Lane recorded a career high seven steals and tied her career best with 11 rebounds in a win over Lafayette. She now has scored in double figures in three consecutive games and eight total so far this season.
 
Genesis Lucas is averaging 8.1 points, 3.8 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals in 34.0 minutes per game. She is in the top six in the MEAC in assists, steals and minutes played per contest.
 
Lucas leads Coppin State in assists with 38 and is second in steals with 20 through 10 games this season. She has led the team in assists 15 times and steals 11 times in her career. Lucas scored a season best 15 points in the Lady Eagles win over Lafayette.
 
Senior guard Amber Griffin is second on Coppin State scoring at a 9.6 point per game clip on 42.7% shooting from the field. She is also second on the team with 33 assists so far this year.
 
She now has 326 career assists and has dished out three or more assists in six games this season.
Keena Samuels is chipping in 8.3 points per contest. She has started six consecutive games for the Lady Eagles.
 
Samuels has scored six or more points in all but one game this season.
 
Jordan Swails is averaging 8.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game. She leads the team in steals, she is second in rebounds and third on Coppin State in assists.
 
Swails is in the top 20 in the MEAC in rebounding, assists and steals. She has started all 12 games for the Lady Eagles.
 
Meanwhile the Norfolk State Spartans (0-11) are coming off a pair of losses to La Salle and St. Francis Brooklyn at the Monmouth Hawks Holiday Classic.
 
Siobhan Beslow leads the Spartans with 11.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Kayla Roberts is adding 10.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest for Norfolk State.
 
Coppin State will return to action for its first MEAC road game of the season when the team travels to Washington D.C. to take on Howard Saturday afternoon January 9 in Burr Gymnasium with tipoff at 2:00 p.m.