NORFOLK, Va. – Coppin State University's women's basketball team rallied from 18 points down to take a lead but eventually fell at Old Dominion, 75-67 on Thursday afternoon at the Ted Constant Center. Both teams now stand at 1-6 on the season.
The Monarchs led 38-20 with 1:08 remaining in the second quarter but the Eagles clawed their way back into it, outscoring Old Dominion 21-9 in the third period and went into the fourth down 47-46.
Mia Crooms gave Coppin its first lead of the game with the first basket of the fourth with 9:32 left, hustling after own missed shot. On the ensuing possession,
Chance Graham made a steal and took it coast-to-coast for a score followed by a jumper by
Genesis Lucas, giving the Eagles their largest lead at 52-47 with 8:23 left to play.
After a sub by the Monarchs, ODU started to heat up from three, making three-straight from deep to take a four-point lead. Lucas answered right back with a triple of her own but ODU was able to extend the lead back to nine with just over a minute left.
Three free throws by Lucas cut the deficit to six with 28 ticks remaining but that was as close as the Eagles would get.
Lucas led all scorers with 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting while making 6-of-8 from the stripe, putting her 16 points shy of 1,000 for her career. Lucas also dished out a game-high six assists and will tie for second in Coppin history with her next dime.
Three other Eagles reached double figures as
Maraiyah Smith added 12 points with four triples, while Graham and
Candice Beverly added 11 and ten points, respectively. Crooms also chipped in with nine.
Coppin narrowly out-rebounded ODU, 28-26 but were outshot 50.0% to 46.7%.
ODU started the game off strong, getting out to a 7-0 lead but Coppin settled down with the next five points and eventually tied the score at 11 after a three by
Nadia Davidson with 2:51 remaining. The Monarchs responded with a three-point play but Lucas answered right back to tie the score at 14. The teams traded baskets but ODU scored on a bank-shot from the baseline as time expired to go into the second ahead 18-16.
Nine turnovers proved costly for the Eagles in the second quarter and the team made just 2-of-10 shots in the period as the Monarchs made over 51% of theirs to take a 38-25 lead into the break.
The Navy & Gold return to action on Sunday December 3 when it travels to Charlotte for a 1 pm tipoff.
