BALTIMORE, Md. – The Eagles suffered a 58-46 home loss to North Carolina Central on Monday, February 6
th. Red-shirt junior
Genesis Lucas finished with a team-high 12 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Coppin State falls to 5-17 overall and 5-5 in MEAC play while North Carolina Central moves to 4-17 overall record and 3-6 in the conference.
Three Eagles finished in double figure scoring behind Lucas' team-high 12 points on five made shots from the field. Graduate
Vanessa Neal scored 11 points and graduate
Tiara Goode added ten points with seven rebounds. Freshmen
Chance Graham recorded a game-high nine rebounds while both junior
Candice Beverly and sophomore
Alexis Taylor each had a pair of blocked shots.
North Carolina Central jumped out to a 6-0 lead early on until Lucas recorded the Eagles first points of the evening at the 6:41 mark. Coppin State shot a miserable 1-for-11 from the field in the first period and were forced into six turnovers. NCCU shot 43-perent from the field on 7-of-16 made shots in the opening period carrying a 15-2 lead into the second quarter.
Coppin State picked up the pace in the second quarter led by
Oluwaseun Adeniji's four points. She made a pair of free-throws and scored one of three Eagle field goals in the quarter. NCCU kept their offense going outscoring CSU 17-10 in the period on 3-of-6 made three-pointers. By the four minute mark NCCU led 28-8 and the deficit continued into the half with Coppin State trailing, 32-12.
The Eagles increased their defensive pressure in the third period holding NCCU to 2-of-10 made shots from the field (20%). Lucas scored six points in the quarter, Goode had five and Neal had four points as the Eagles made six field goals and four free-throws. NCCU made a perfect 10-of-10 free-throws and remained in the lead by double-digits (47-29) heading into the fourth quarter.
Neal posted seven of her points in the fourth quarter with freshmen
Mia Crooms and Lucas both netting four points. CSU cut the deficit to ten (50-40) with 2:25 left in regulation which would be the closest it would get as NCCU converted on free-throws down the stretch.
North Carolina Central was led by Morgan Jones' 25 points and Dominique Adams' 17 points. NCCU went 23-for-24 at the free-throw line knocking down 95-percent of their attempts.
Coppin State will host Bethune-Cookman on Saturday, February 11
th at 2 p.m. for their 2017 Homecoming game in the Physical Education Complex.
