No. 4 Coppin State Set to Face No. 5 Morgan State in MEAC Quarterfinals

BALTIMORE- The Coppin State Lady Eagles (14-15, 10-6) will face the Morgan State Lady Bears (13-16, 10-6) in the Quarterfinals of the MEAC Women's Basketball Tournament on Thursday March 10 in Scope Arena in Norfolk, VA. Tipoff is at 2:30 p.m.
 
This will be the sixth time these two teams have matched up in last two seasons.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Scope Arena (11,000) – Norfolk, Va.
Tipoff Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
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ABOUT THE EAGLES
The Lady Eagles are (14-15, 10-6) the fourth seed in the MEAC Women's Basketball Tournament and are coming off an opening round 78-54 win over the Norfolk State Lady Spartans on Monday, March 7.
 
The Lady Eagles have won seven consecutive games and the Coppin State has won at least one MEAC tournament game in six straight seasons.
 
Five Lady Eagles are scoring at least 8.0 points per game and four 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 10.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per outing. Lane has 19 double-digit scoring games this year.
 
Omaah Tayong leads Coppin State in rebounding. Hers 8.5 rebounds per games ranks fourth in the MEAC. Tayong is adding 9.3 points for Coppin State.
 
Genesis Lucas leads Coppin State in steals (64) and assists (119) through 27 games. She has led the Lady Eagles in steals 18 times and assists 27 times in her career.
 
Senior Amber Griffin has scored in double figures in six of the last eight games for the Lady Eagles. She is averaging 13.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals per contest over that stretch.
 
Jordan Swails is chipping in 9.5 points and 5.8 rebounds since moving to a reserve role for the Lady Eagles.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Four Lady Eagles scored in double figures in the Coppin State's 78-54 victory over Norfolk State in the first round of the 2016 MEAC Women's Basketball Championship Tournament on Wednesday March 7 in Scope Arena in Norfolk, VA.
 
Coppin State has now won a MEAC Tournament game in sixth consecutive seasons.
 
The win was the seventh in a row for the Lady Eagles.
 
Head Coach Derek Brown was proud of how his team preformed and battle through a second half surge by Norfolk State.
 
"We played a pretty consistent game today. Of course they made a couple of little runs, but we hung in there. We've talking about this game for quite some time now." Head Coach Derek Brown
 
Senior Amber Griffin lead the Lady Eagles with 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting, a team best five rebounds, two steals and a assist in 33 minutes of action.
 
"Defensive is pivotal for us," said Griffin, a native of Locust Grove, GA. "I tell my team that defense is essential, just focus on getting stops and steals, the offense is going to come."
 
The Lady Eagles defense held the Lady Spartans to a season low four points in the fourth quarter.
 
Genesis Lucas finished with 15 points on 7-of-12 accuracy from the field, three assists, three rebounds and compiled a team best four steals in 39 minutes.
 
Keena Samuels added 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor, a team best four assists, four rebounds and three steals in 36 minutes on the court.
 
Senior Tanaysa Henderson scored 11 points, three rebounds and two steals in 19 minutes off the bench for the Eagles.
 
Senior Jordan Swails also came off the bench to chip in nine points, three assists, two rebounds and one steal for Coppin State.
 
"I have five seniors, I made an adjustment to personal, and I have some speed out front and that made a difference," Brown said. "We really opened a lead up when we went small. Quickness pays off a lot, you don't have to always go big."
 
Janelle Lane tallied seven points and four rebounds for Coppin State.
 
The Lady Eagles shot 58.5% (31-for-53) from the floor and outrebounded Norfolk State 36-26.
 
Coppin State won the battle of the paint outscoring the Lady Spartans 32-16.
 
Coppin State tallied 14 steals and scored 20 points on 18 Norfolk State turnovers.
 
"Norfolk is the kind of team that doesn't give up, they're going to keep pushing," Griffin said. "They keep you on your toes."
 
Kiara Phillips led Norfolk State with 15 points and four rebounds. Koryn Lawrence added 10 points and five assists for the Lady Spartans.
 
Norfolk State shot 34.5% (20-for-58) from the field.
 
Norfolk State Head Coach Larry Vickers had high praise for the Lady Eagles after the game.
 
"We drew the toughest team," Vickers said. "I would not be surprised to see Coppin State cut down the nets. I knew who I didn't want to see and obviously we saw them."
 
The Lady Eagles Head Coach Derek Brown echoed Vickers sentiments.
 
"It's really wide open this year, there's no one dominant team," Brown said. Anything could happen this year, I think this is going to be a very exciting tournament." 
 
WEDNESDAY'S GAME
Coppin State leads the all-time series over Morgan State, 38-32. The Lady Eagles are 1-1 against the Lady Bears in two games this season. Both team won on their home court.
 
Coppin State defeated Morgan State 71-56 in the first round of the 2015 MEAC Women's Basketball Tournament.
  
ABOUT NORFOLK STATE
The Lady Bears (13-16, 10-6 MEAC) are the fifth seed in the MEAC Women's Basketball Tournament and are coming off a 52-42 first round win over the North Carolina Central Lady Eagles on Monday, March 7.
 
Braennan Farrar leads Morgan State with 14.0 points and 3.2 assists per game. Tykyrah Williams is chipping in 10.4 points and 4.8 rebounds for the Lady Bears.
 
Lexus Spears is adding 8.3 points and 6.6 rebounds.
 
WHATS DOWN THE ROAD
If Coppin State wins Wednesday vs. Morgan State they will face the ninth seeded South Carolina State Lady Bulldogs, who upset the top ranked Bethune-Cookman Lady Wildcats. The Lady Eagles dropped its only matchup against South Carolina State 67-63, on the road February 6.
 
COPPIN STATE IN THE MEAC TOURNAMENT
The Lady Eagles have won at least one MEAC Tournament games in six straight seasons, including this season's opening round win over Norfolk State on Monday. Coppin State defeated Morgan State in the first round of the MEAC Tournament in 2015 before losing to the Tournament champions Savannah State.
 
Coppin State is 1-3 against Morgan State all-time in the MEAC Tournament.
 
The Lady Eagles are 14-14 in MEAC Tournament quarterfinal games.
 
Jordan Swails was named to the 2015 All-MEAC Tournament team.
 
AGAINST THE STATE OF MARYLAND
This will be the Lady Eagles eighth game against a team from the state of Maryland this year. Coppin State is 4-3 against teams from Maryland 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, scoring margin, 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 293 (10.1) through 29 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.