No. 4 Coppin State Will Meet No. 2 Lady Aggies in MEAC Championship Game

BALTIMORE- The Coppin State Lady Eagles (16-15, 10-6) will face the North Carolina A&T Lady Aggies (18-11, 12-4) in the 2016 MEAC Women's Basketball Championship game. Tipoff is Saturday, March 12 in Norfolk Scope Arena at 4:00 p.m.
 
This is Coppin State's first Championship game appearance since winning it all in 2008.
 
Coppin State is 4-2 all time in MEAC Championship games.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Scope Arena (11,000) – Norfolk, Va.
Tipoff Time: 4:00 p.m. ET

 
ABOUT THE EAGLES
The Lady Eagles are (16-15, 10-6) the fourth seed in the MEAC Women's Basketball Tournament and are coming off an 81-62 Semifinal round win over the ninth seeded South Carolina State Lady Bulldogs on Friday, March 11.
 
The Lady Eagles have won nine consecutive games and Coppin State has won at least one MEAC tournament game in six straight seasons.
 
Six Lady Eagles are scoring at least 8.0 points per game and three players are in the top 30 in scoring in the MEAC. Keena Samuels is putting in a team leading 11.3 points per game.
 
She has scored in double figures in 14 of 17 MEAC games this season.
 
Janelle Lane was award All-MEAC Third team honors. She is averaging 11.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per outing. Lane has 21 double-digit scoring games this year.
 
Omaah Tayong leads Coppin State in rebounding. Her 8.3 rebounds per game ranks sixth in the MEAC. Tayong is adding 8.6 points for Coppin State.
 
Genesis Lucas leads Coppin State in steals (67) and assists (128) through 29 games. She has led the Lady Eagles in steals 19 times and assists 28 times in her career.
 
Senior Amber Griffin has scored in double figures in five straight games for the Lady Eagles. She is averaging 15.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.6 steals on 54.6% shooting from the field over that stretch.
 
Jordan Swails is chipping in 9.5 points and 6.3 rebounds since moving to a reserve role for the Lady Eagles.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Sophomore guard Genesis Lucas scored a season best 21 points, one shy of her career high, as four Lady Eagles scored in double figures in Coppin State's 81-62 MEAC Semifinal win over the South Carolina State Lady Bulldogs on Friday, March 11 in Norfolk Scope Arena.
 
Coppin State (16-15, 10-6) will return to the MEAC Finals after a one-year hiatus.
 
The Lady Eagles are now 7-8 all-time in the MEAC Semifinals and 6-5 all-time against South Carolina State in the MEAC Tournament.
 
Head Coach Derek Brown could not be more proud of how his team has been playing on the team's current nine game win streak.
 
"As of yesterday and Monday, the ladies have just been playing great basketball," Brown said. "I've seen them play at their worst and I've seen them play at their best. I just felt they played a complete game today."
 
Lucas was on fire to start the game, scoring 13 of her game high 21 points in the first half. She added four rebounds, three assists and a steal on 7-for-12 shooting from the field in 35 minutes of game action.
 
Lucas sank five of her six free throws and shot 2-for-3 from beyond the arc.
 
"We've been practicing on shooting the ball and taking good shots, said Lucas, a native of Brandywine, MD. "It's a habit now for us to take good shots and to feel good about the shots we're taking"
 
Senior Amber Griffin poured in 17 points on 7-for-14 accuracy from the field, including 2-for-4 from 3-point range.
 
Griffin chipped in a game best five assists, two rebounds and two steals on a game a high 36 minutes on the floor. She knocked down her lone foul shot of the game.
 
"We seemed to be more confident in our shooting today," said Griffin, who has scored in double figures in all three games the Eagles have played in the MEAC tournament. "I think the main thing we need to do is cut down on turnovers. If we cut those down and play the defense we've been playing, the sky is the limit for us."
 
Keena Samuels finished with 13 points, five rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes.
 
Samuels went a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe. She too, has scored in double digits in three MEAC tournament wins for the Lady Eagles.
 
Janelle Lane tallied 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the floor. She added five rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 23 minutes.
 
Seniors Jordan Swails and Tanaysa Henderson both led the Lady Eagles with eight points apiece off the bench. They combined to go 6-for-10 shooting from the field.
 
Swails led Coppin State with a team best seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. She sunk two of her three foul shots.
 
Henderson grabbed four rebounds and dished out one assist.
 
She went a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point land.
 
Omaah Tayong complied four points and five rebounds for Coppin State.
 
Coppin State shot 54.7% (29-for-53) from the floor, including shooting 50.0% (6-for-12) from beyond the arc for the third consecutive game of the MEAC Tournament.
 
The Lady Eagles were efficient from inside, outscoring the Lady Bulldogs 28-20 in the painted area and winning the battle of the boards 38-28.
 
Coppin State outscored South Carolina State in three of the four quarters and never trailed during the game.
 
SATURDAY'S GAME
Coppin State is 3-2 against the North Carolina A&T since the 2012-2013 season. CSU defeated NCAT 65-59 earlier this season at PEC Arena in the two team's only matchup this season.
 
Coppin State is 4-2 all-time in MEAC Championship games and are 7-1 against North Carolina A&T in the MEAC Tournament.
 
This will be the Lady Eagles first MEAC Championship game since 2013-2014, when Coppin State fell to Hampton 50-47
 
Coppin State's last MEAC Tournament win over North Carolina A&T was during the 2014 MEAC Championship Quarterfinals.
  
ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA A&T
The Lady Aggies (18-11, 12-4 MEAC) are the second seed in the MEAC Women's Basketball Tournament and are coming off a 63-54 Semifinal round win over the third seeded Hampton Lady Pirates on Friday, March 11.
 
Aprill McRae leads North Carolina A&T  with 13.0 points and 6.5 reboundss per game. Dana Brown is chipping in 11.2 points for the Lady Aggies.
 
Kala Green is adding 9.8 points and 2.5 assists.
 
WHATS DOWN THE ROAD
If Coppin State wins Saturday vs. North Carolina A&T, it will be the team's first MEAC Championship since winning it all in 2008.
 
COPPIN STATE IN THE MEAC CHAMPTIONSHIP GAME
The Lady Eagles have won at least one MEAC Tournament games in six straight seasons, including this season. Coppin State knocked off Norfolk State in the opening round of the MEAC Tournament on Monday, March 7.
 
Coppin State then defeated Morgan State in the quarterfinals on Thursday before soaring past South Carolina State in the Semifinals on Friday.
 
Coppin State is 4-2 all-time in MEAC Championship games and 7-1 against North Carolina A&T in the MEAC Tournament.
 
Jordan Swails was named to the 2015 All-MEAC Tournament team.
 
AGAINST THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
This will be the Lady Eagles third game against a team from the state of North Carolina this year. Coppin State is 2-0 against teams from North Carolina this season.
 
TEAM SUPERLATIVES
The Lady Eagles have three players in the top 30 in scoring in the MEAC (Samuels, Lane, Griffin) and six players averaging over 8.0 points per game.
 
Coppin State is in the top five in the MEAC in scoring offense, scoring margin, field goal defense, rebounding, defensive rebounds, rebounding margin, assists and turnover margin.
 
The Lady Eagles are first in the MEAC in steals with 313 (10.1) and field goal percentage shooting 40.1% through 31 games this season.
 
Keena Samuels has scored in double digits in 14 of 17 MEAC games this season. She is averaging  a team best 13.5 points in MEAC play.
 
Amber Griffin has scored in double figures in five straight games for the Lady Eagles. She is averaging 15.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.6 steals on 54.6% shooting from the field over that stretch.
 
Senior Omaah Tayong is averaging 9.8 points and 9.0 rebounds on 51.1% shooting in conference play.
 
Genesis Lucas is dishing out 4.9 assists per contest in MEAC play. She scored 21 points in the Lady Eagles Semifinal win over South Carolina State.
 
Senior Janelle Lane earned Third-Team All-MEAC honor for the 2016 regular season. She has started every game this season and has scored in double figures in 21 games this year.
 
MOST POINTS IN A GAME: Keena Samuels, 25 points, vs. North Carolina A&T (Jan. 27, 2016)
Keena Samuels torched North Carolina A&T for a career high 25 points as the Coppin State Lady Eagles cruised past the Aggies for a 65-59 victory Wednesday evening January, 27 in PEC Arena.
 
After the Aggies took a 50-49 lead with five minutes to play in the second half, a steal and layup by Samuels sparked a 7-0 Lady Eagles run. North Carolina A&T never recaptured the lead.
 
Samuels shot 8-of-15 from the field and knocked down nine of her 12 foul shots. She added two assists and three steals while playing all 40 minutes of the game. Samuels sunk five of her final six free throws to help seal the game for Coppin State.
 
MOST REBOUNDS IN A GAME: Jordan Swails, 16 rebounds, vs. Mt. St. Mary's (Nov. 29, 2015)
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.
 
She added two assists, two steals and two blocks.
 
MOST ASSISTS IN A GAME: Genesis Lucas, 10 assists, vs. North Carolina Central (Feb. 18, 2016)
Genesis Lucas recorded a career best 10 assists. She chipped in nine points, five rebounds and a steal.
 
It was her first career game with double figure assists.