#4 Coppin State Set to Face #13 Norfolk State in First Round of MEAC Tourney

BALTIMORE- The Coppin State Lady Eagles (13-15, 10-6) will kick off the 2016 MEAC Women's Basketball Tournament on Monday March 7 with a matchup against Norfolk State Lady Spartans in Scope Arena in Norfolk, VA. Tipoff is at 11:00 a.m.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Scope Arena (11,000) – Norfolk, Va.
Tipoff Time: 11:00 p.m. ET
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ABOUT THE EAGLES
The Lady Eagles bench had 22 points in a 54-49 road victory against Delaware State University on Thursday, March 3^rd in the regular season finale. Senior Jordan Swails had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds for Coppin State.
 
Coppin State (13-15, 10-6) had a strong first half against Delaware State (9-20, 6-10) forcing 18 turnovers and controlling the paint outrebounding the Hornets, 26-22. The Lady Eagles shot 28% (11-39) from the field while holding DSU to 21% (5-23). Coppin's first lead of the game came with 2:40 left in the first quarter after senior guard Keena Samuels dished it off to senior forward Omaah Tayong for an 8-6 advantage. Coppin State led for the rest of the half as senior guard Amber Griffin made 4-of-6 first half shots. She nailed a three pointer and ended the first half with a team-high nine points. Tanaysa Henderson and Jordan Swails both had four first half points with Henderson grabbing seven rebounds and Swails adding five boards.
 
Keena Samuels was a spark for the Lady Eagles in the third quarter. She scored seven points and added a pair of steals and three rebounds. CSU jumped out to a 12-point advantage with 2:21 (38-26) left in the quarter. Coppin State carried a 42-31 lead into the final quarter of their regular season.
 
The Lady Hornets came out with three straight three pointers in the final quarter. DSU cut the deficit down to two (46-44) with 5:31 remaining in regulation, but Swails and the Lady Eagles remained poised down the stretch. Swails carried the Lady Eagles to victory scoring four consecutive baskets in the next two minutes. Sophomore guard Genesis Lucas made a jumper with 2:32 on the clock and Keena Samuels gave CSU an eight point lead with just under a minute with her 11^th point of the night. The Lady Eagles held on for a 54-49 win against the Lady Hornets.
 
Jordan Swails netted her fourth double-double of the season finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Tanaysa Henderson also came off the bench and scored eight points with seven rebounds. Starters Amber Griffin and Keena Samuels each scored 11 points. Griffin made the Lady Eagles only three pointer of the game and came away with four steals. Samuels also had four steals and grabbed seven rebounds.
 
Coppin State ends their regular season with a 13-15 overall record. They move up to 5^th in the MEAC standings and will await the seeding for next week's MEAC Women's Basketball Tournament.
 
MONDAY'S GAME
Coppin State leads the all-time series over Norfolk State, 26-7. The Lady Eagles are 3-1 in the last four meetings after sweeping the Lady Spartans in two games this season.
 
Coppin State has won at least one MEAC Tournament game in five consecutive seasons.
 
ABOUT NORFOLK STATE
The Lady Spartans (3-23, 3-13 MEAC) is coming off a 71-66 home win over the Hampton Lady Pirates in their season finale March 3.
 
Siobhan Beslow leads Norfolk State with 10.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Kayla Roberts is chipping in 10.0 points and 7.9 rebounds for the Lady Spartans.
 
Koryn Lawrence is adding 9.0 points and 3.2 assists.
 
WHATS DOWN THE ROAD
If Coppin State wins Monday vs. Norfolk State they will face the winner between #5 Morgan State and #12 North Carolina Central. The Lady Eagles are 2-1 against the Morgan State and North Carolina Central this season.
 
COPPIN STATE IN THE MEAC TOURNAMENT
The Lady Eagles have won at least one MEAC Tournament game in five straight seasons. Coppin State defeated Morgan State in the first round of the MEAC Tournament in 2015 before losing to the Tournament champions Savannah State.
 
Jordan Swails was named to the 2015 All-MEAC Tournament team.
 
AGAINST THE STATE OF VIRGINIA
This will be the Lady Eagles seventh game against a team from the state of Virginia. Coppin State is 3-3 against teams from Virginia this season.
 
TEAM SUPERLATIVES
The Lady Eagles have four players in the top 30 in scoring in the MEAC (Samuels, Lane, Griffin, Tayong) and five players averaging over 8.0 points per game.
 
Coppin State is in the top five in the MEAC in scoring offense, field goal percentage, field goal defense, rebounding, defensive rebounds, assists, steals and turnover margin.
 
The Lady Eagles are first in the MEAC in steals with 279 (10.0) through 28 games this season.
 
Keena Samuels has scored in double digits in 14 of 17 MEAC games this season. She is averaging 13.5 points in MEAC play.
 
Amber Griffin tied a career best with 21 points and tied a team high with nine made field goals in a win over Morgan State. She has two 20+ scoring games this season.
 
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.
 
Senior Janelle Lane earned Third-Team All-MEAC honor for the 2016 regular season.
 
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.