NORFOLK, Va. – Coppin State women's basketball suffered an opening round elimination at the 2017 MEAC Women's Basketball Tournament to Maryland Eastern Shore, 62-59, at Scope Arena on Monday, March 6, 2017. Senior
Keena Samuels and red-shirt junior
Genesis Lucas both finished with 16 points for the Eagles.
Coppin State ends the 2016-17 season with an 8-21 overall record. In their final game, the Eagles converted on a season-best percentage from the free-throw line (80-percent) making 8-of-10 from the charity stripe. CSU also took good care of the ball on offense with a season-low ten turnovers.
Keena Samuels tied a career-high with nine rebounds in her final game as an Eagle with 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field. Samuels led the first half scoring with 13 points. Lucas paced the squad with 11 second half points and finished with 16 points on 6-of-19 made shots. She also dished out a game-high seven assists with two steals. Graduate
Vanessa Neal was the final Eagle scoring in double-digits with ten points. Graduate
Tiara Goode led the bench scoring with six points hitting a pair of three-pointers while freshman
Chance Graham recorded four points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.
The Eagles went into halftime trailing the Hawks 36-32. The Hawks shot the ball well from deep making 8-of-14 three-pointers in the first half. Coppin State stayed within striking distance and took a 32-25 advantage with 3:18 left in the second period on a
Tiara Goode three-pointer. Maryland Eastern Shore closed the quarter on an 11-0 run over the next three minutes and took the lead going into the break.
Neal, Graham and Lucas combined to score all of the CSU points in the third period with both teams struggling from the field. MDES outscored the Eagles 9-7 in the quarter, but things picked up in the fourth quarter for an exciting finish.
Coppin State entered the fourth quarter trailing the Hawks 45-39. The Eagles came out and scored the first 10 points of the period jumping out to a 49-45 lead. Neal scored the first two layups followed by Lucas with three consecutive baskets. Down the stretch the Hawks were able to get to the free-throw line after the Eagles were whistled for their aggressive defense. MDES went to the line 17 times in the fourth quarter converting on 13 free-throws in a ten minute span. Despite the excessive amount of opportunities at the charity stripe for the Hawks Coppin State remained poised and cut an eight point deficit (59-51) down to only two in the final minutes of regulation.
Samuels' three-pointer with 1:28 trimmed the lead to five and then Lucas made a pair of free-throws to lower the score (59-56) with 42-seconds left. CSU forced a turnover with 28-seconds and had the opportunity to tie the game with a long range shot. Instead, MDES fouled and sent the Eagles to the line with 15-seconds on the clock. CSU made 1-of-2 trailing by two (59-57), but could never overcome the Hawks in the final seconds. Graham scored the Eagles final basket of the season after grabbing an offensive rebounds. ON Coppin State's final play of the season they attempted a long shot from beyond half court that missed falling short and ending their season, 62-59 to Maryland Eastern Shore.
Head Women's Basketball Coach
DeWayne Burroughs and his coaching staff said goodbye to three seniors;
Keena Samuels,
Tiara Goode and
Vanessa Neal. The Eagles had the 2016-17 MEAC Rookie of the Year in freshman center
Chance Graham. Graham was also named to the All-MEAC Third Team as well as the All-MEAC Rookie Team.
Genesis Lucas earned All-MEAC First Team honors and will look to lead the Eagles basketball team in her upcoming senior season.
