DOVER, Del. – Coppin State's women's basketball team let a 17-point lead dwindle away as it fell on the road at MEAC rival Delaware State, 70-66, on Monday night at Memorial Hall. The Eagles now stand at 6-20 overall with a 5-9 mark in the MEAC while the Hornets move to 5-21 with a 4-9 record in conference play.
Chance Graham continued her superb play for Coppin, leading all players with a double-double 21 points and 14 rebounds. The sophomore forward from Upper Marlboro made 8-of-17 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers.
Three other Eagles finished in double figures as
Candice Beverly matched a career-high with 14 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
Genesis Lucas added 11 points and eight rebounds while
Oluwadamilola Oloyede added ten points.
Ahead by eight going into the second quarter, Coppin's lead stayed stagnant until closing out the half on a 12-2 run over the final 3:48 and going into the locker room with a 43-26 lead.
Coppin's lead was 45-28 with 9:20 left after a layup by Oloyede but Delaware State went on a 18-3 run over 7:40 to cut the deficit to a single basket with 1:44 left in the third. Graham was able to respond with a layup with a minute to go and Mariayah Smith drove in for a layup to put Coppin up 52-46 after three.
After building their lead to as many as 59-51 with 7:13 left to play, the Hornets scored eight straight to tie the score with 3:39 remaining. The teams traded a pair of free throws before DSU's Ryan Jones (21 points) tied the game at 63 with 2:23 left.
Smith then hit a pair of free throws with 1:27 left but three free throws by the Hornets gave them the 66-65 lead with 1:02 to go. Graham tied the score with a free throw but Keke Barber (13 points) drained a three with 33 ticks left and Jones hit 1-of-2 free throws with nine seconds left to punctuate the win.
Coppin narrowly outshot DSU, 38.3% to 36.6%, but were outrebounded 49-42 and committed 23 turnovers which led to 22 DSU points. The Hornets also had 30 second-chance points and the Eagles made just 15-of-24 from the line.
The Eagles will make the short trip across town from their Baltimore campus to Morgan State on Monday, February 26 for a 5:30 pm tipoff.
