PREVIEW: Women's Basketball Opens 2017 MEAC Tournament Versus Maryland Eastern Shore

NORFOLK, Va. - No. 6 seed Coppin State and the No. 11 seeded Maryland Eastern Shore will square off this Monday in the opening round of the 2017 MEAC Men's Basketball Tournament in Scope Arena. Monday's game will mark the third time the teams have met in the MEAC Tournament with the Eagles winning the previous two times.  Overall the Eagles are 36-26 against the Shore and have won the last two meetings. In their last meeting, Genesis Lucas played the entire 40 minutes scoring 20 points and dishing off eight assists in a 55-49 road win on Feb. 4^th.

ABOUT THE EAGLES

• Coppin State have gone 8-20 with an 8-8 MEAC record and were seeded No. 6 entering the 2017 MEAC Women's Basketball Tournament in Norfolk, Va… The Eagles are 0-1 in the month of March after losing their regular season finale (65-61) at home to Hampton on Thursday, March 2^nd … CSU went 4-3 in the month of February with key wins at Maryland Eastern Shore 55-49 (Feb. 4) and then three straight against Delaware State (77-64), at South Carolina State (66-63) and at Savannah State (55-49).
• Genesis Lucas scored a team-high 21 points on Thursday night against the Pirates… Lucas has 18 double figure scoring games including 13 out of 16 conference games… She had 7 20+ point games and led Coppin State in scoring 10 times and in assists 24 times during the 2016-17 season. She was named to the 2016-17 All-MEAC First Team after averaging 13.4 points per game and 4.5 assists per game.
• Coppin State has two players who have averaged 10.0 or more points per game – Genesis Lucas (13.7) and Keena Samuels (12.7)… Samuels ranks 7^th in MEAC scoring and 8^th in steals (1.8).

 
EAGLES IN THE MEAC TOURNAMENT
The Eagles have won at least one MEAC Tournament game in six straight seasons. Last season, Coppin State picked up three wins advancing to the MEAC Women's Basketball Championship game against NC A&T. The Eagles fell 65-46 and last lost an opening round game in the 2010 season. (SC State de. CSU 54-49).
 
MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE & COPPIN STATE'S FIRST MEETING
Genesis Lucas recorded her fifth 20+ point performance of the season while notching her third consecutive game in double figure scoring against the Hawks. She made 7-of-17 shots from the field including three three-pointers and a team-best three made free-throws. Graduate Tiara Goode scored 16 points reaching double-digit scoring for the ninth time this season. Goode made 5-of-7 shots from the field hitting 4-of-6 three-pointers and had six rebounds. Junior Candice Beverly made a career-high four field goals finishing with nine points, four rebounds and two steals. Junior Oluwaseun Adeniji added six points from off of the CSU bench and led the Eagles with two blocks.
 
GRAHAM NAMED 2016-17 MEAC WOMEN'S ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Freshman Chance Graham is the third Coppin State women's basketball player to earn Rookie of the Year honors. She was also named to All-MEAC Third Team and to the All-MEAC Rookie Team. Graham led Coppin State in rebounds with 244 recorded during her freshman season. She ranked fifth in the conference in rebounds per game (8.7), third in offensive rebounds (3.3) and seventh in defensive rebounds (5.3). Graham led the Eagles in rebounding 19 times and was the top shot blocker eight times. In six games, she recorded double-digit points and had eight games of 10+ rebounds. Graham scored a season-high 14 points at Howard while also grabbing 16 rebounds. She was also named MEAC Rookie of the Week five times during the 2016-17 season.
 
LUCAS NAMED FIRST TEAM ALL-MEAC SELECTION
Red-shirt junior Genesis Lucas is the first Coppin State women's basketball player since the 2014 season to earn All-MEAC First Team honors. Lucas led Coppin State in total points scored with 321 while ranking amongst the conference leaders in eight statistical categories. Lucas was fifth in MEAC scoring (13.4 ppg), second in assists (4.5), third in steals (2.4), third in assists/turnover ratio (1.2), third in total minutes (35.3), sixth in free-throw percentage (.759), ninth in three-point field goals percentage (.308) and tenth in three-point field goal made (1.6). Lucas was named MEAC Player of the Week twice this season, had six 20+ point games, led the Eagles in assists 21 times and was their top stealer in 13 games.
 
ALL-TIME ASSISTS
Genesis Lucas is currently ranked third in school history in career assist totals with 330. As a sophomore she dished out 130 and as a freshman 82. Now in her third season she has 118 thus far, just passing No. 4 Shalamar Oakley's 326. Next on the list is No. 2 Amber Griffin at 370 career assists.