DURHAM, N.C. – Transfer guard
Brooke Fields topped the 1,500 career points mark with a game-high 25 while forward
Chance Graham picked up her tenth double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) in a tough 62-57 setback to North Carolina Central Saturday afternoon.
The Basics
- Final Score: Coppin State 57, North Carolina Central 62
- Records: Coppin State 1-16 (1-4 MEAC) / North Carolina Central 4-13 (1-3 MEAC)
- Location: Durham, NC – McDougald-Mclendon Arena
- Series History: Coppin State Leads 7-6
How It Happened
First Quarter
- A layup from E'Mya Price opened the scoring for the blue and gold before NCCU took the lead at 5-4.
- Five points from Chance Graham and four from Brooke Fields helped spurn a 9-0 explosion to put Coppin ahead 13-5 heading into the media timeout.
- CSU continued to dominate as Fields added five more points on a solid 8-3 outburst to push the Coppin advantage up to 21-8 at the 2:17 mark.
- North Carolina Central would answer the bell, closing the quarter on a 7-2 run as Coppin ended the first ten minutes of the ballgame on top 23-15.
Second Quarter
- A layup by Kieche White to open the quarter cut the lead to six before Fields took over yet again, swishing two free throws and another deep three-ball to outscore NCCU 5-0 over the next 30 seconds while Jalynda Salley added a pretty tip-in put-back layup to push the CSU lead back to double-digits, 30-17.
- The maroon and grey were able to trim two points off of the Coppin State lead going into the break, with CSU in front 35-24 at the intermission.
Third Quarter
- NC Central tried to ignite a comeback out the half with four straight points, but four points from Graham, one from Tsahai Corbie, and a 12-foot jumper from Oluwadamilola Oloyede quieted the home side, 42-28 CSU.
- After Fields drained her 20th point of the night to make it 44-30 CSU, Central decided to turn up the heat a little, countering with nine of the next eleven to send both Eagles squads into the fourth with Coppin State hanging onto a 46-39 upper-hand.
Fourth Quarter
- NC Central continued its push with eight straight points and 11-of-13 to begin the final frame to take the lead, 50-48 NCCU.
- With a made free throw at 4:18 remaining, Brooke Fields eclipsed the 1,500-point total for her career, spanning three seasons with Division II Roberts Wesleyan College before finishing her career at Coppin State, 52-50 NC Central.
- NCCU would build the lead up to five at 55-50 before a Fields layup and clutch triple from Chance Graham tied the proceedings at 55 with 1:22 to go.
- A three-pointer from NCCU's Dasmine Kasey followed by two Zaria Atkins free throws gave North Carolina Central a 60-55 lead.
- Two free throws by Maraiyah Smith would cut the deficit to three, but another pair by Zaria Atkins put the game away, sealing a 62-57 victory for Eagles squad in maroon and gray.
Inside the Numbers
- Brooke Fields surpassed 1,500 career points in the contest, racking up 1,226 for DII Roberts Wesleyan from 2014-2017 before transferring to Coppin. After her 25-point outing, she currently has 276 points with the Eagles on the season and sits at 1,502 overall.
- Fields' monster game has been no surprise lately, as the senior has dropped 225 points over her last 11 appearances, good for an average of 20.5 per contest.
- Chance Graham is approaching Coppin career milestones along with Fields' personal accomplishment, as she now sits eight shy of 4th place on the Coppin State all-time rebounding list with 749 and 16 points away from breaking into the CSU record books for career scoring as well. Graham has 874 career points for the blue and gold as she looks to catch Leisel Harry (890) for 20th all-time.
- A Preseason All-MEAC 1st-Teamer, Graham now has ten double-doubles in 16 games after going for 16 points and 11 rebounds versus North Carolina Central.
- E'Mya Price doubled her season-high with six rebounds on the afternoon, while tying for the team-lead in steals (2), picking up a block, and one assist.
- Paulina Afriyie had a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards for North Carolina Central while Zaria Atkins and Rodneysha Martin led the club in points (13).
Who's Next?
- Coppin women's basketball gets a day off before heading a few hours west to play North Carolina A&T in Greensboro on Monday evening.
