RICHMOND, Va. – Senior guard Keena Samuels finished with a team-high 11 points in the Coppin State women's basketball season opener at Virginia Commonwealth University on Friday, Nov. 11. The Rams defeated the Eagles 73-44 inside the Siegel Center.
 
The Eagles trailed the entire way of the 2016-17 season opener against the Rams and trailed by as many as 30 in the fourth quarter. Coppin State had one finish in double figure scoring and had another finish with double-digit rebounds. The second period was their strongest quarter of the game where 7-of-12 free-throws were made.
 
In total, Coppin State shot 30% from the field converting on 16-of-53 attempts and made 50% of their free-throws knocking down 12-of-24. The Eagles struggled with 15 turnovers and missed on all 13 attempts from three-point range. The Rams held the advantage over the Eagles at home in rebounds (53-31), in paint points (38-14) and also in bench production (38-9).
 
Keena Samuels scored five of her 11 points in the fourth quarter as Coppin State shot their highest quarter percentage of the morning at 38.5%. She scored four points in the first quarter and two in the second.
 
Freshman Chance Graham was a bright spot for the Eagles grabbing 11 rebounds in her collegiate debut. Graham recorded seven defensive rebounds and finished with seven points. The Upper Marlboro, MD rookie converted on 5-of-7 attempts from the charity stripe and was the Eagles leading scorer in the second period with seven points.
 
Graduate Vanessa Neal added much needed scoring with a career-high nine points on 4-of-11 made shots from the field. Neal led CSU in third quarter scoring with six points draining 3-of-5 attempts.
 
Junior Candice Beverly tied her career-high with seven points against VCU. Beverly was efficient from the field leading the Eagles on 50% shooting. In the second quarter Beverly had five of 15 points by the Eagles.
 
Red-shirt junior Genesis Lucas scored six points, grabbed four rebounds, had a team-high three steals and dished out a pair of assists. Lucas played the most minutes on the team registering 33 against the Rams.  
 
Coppin State will return to action on Sunday, Nov. 13^th at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA at 2 p.m. This will be the fifth meeting between Virginia and Coppin State with Virginia leading the all-time series 4-0.