BALTIMORE, Md. – Chance Graham scored a career-high 21 points and added 14 rebounds to lead the Coppin State University women's basketball team to a 68-54 win over Mount St. Mary's in the Eagles' home opener on Saturday afternoon at the PEC Arena. The Navy & Gold are now 1-2 on the year while the Mountaineers fall to 0-3.
A sophomore from Upper Marlboro, Md., Graham made 9-of-14 from the floor to hit the 20-point mark for the first time in her career. Graham was especially impressive in the second half, going for 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting and eight rebounds.
Graham was not the sole contributor for the Eagles and senior
Genesis Lucas also scored 20 points on 7-of-19 shooting along with eight steals, four rebounds and four assists.
Candice Beverly finished a rebound short of a double-double with ten points while
Oluwadamilola Oloyede had a career-day with ten points and seven rebounds.
The Eagles led the entire game as Lucas got the day started with a three pointer off a dime by Beverly. Mount St. Mary's kept it close until midway through the first, but after Ashlee White hit a three to cut its deficit to 6-5, Coppin's senior leaders of Beverly and Lucas led Coppin on a 9-0 run to extend the lead to 15-5 with 3:34 remaining.
Coppin led 19-8 after the first and 26-21 at the half and the Mountaineers would get no closer than three points the rest of the way. The Eagles extended their lead to as many as 22 points with 1:44 left in regulation as they shot 50% from the field in the second half and outshot the Mount 40.6% to 36.2% for the game.
Dominant inside, the Eagles also out-rebounded the Mount, 48-33 and turned 16 offensive rebounds into 21 second-chance points.
There won't be much time to celebrate for Coppin State as it will quickly get on the road for a showdown at Charleston Southern on Monday, November 20 at 7:30 pm. The matchup will be televised on the Big South TV Network.
