NORFOLK, Va. – Jalynda Salley scored a team-high 17 points and
Chance Graham notched a double-double as the season came to an end for the Coppin State women's basketball team in a 62-50 loss to Maryland Eastern Shore on Tuesday afternoon in the MEAC Tournament at Scope Arena.
Inside the Numbers
- Jalynda Salley made 7-of-13 shots from the floor and three free throws to lead Coppin State with 17 points. Salley also had four rebounds and a pair of blocks.
- Chance Graham's 12 points and 12 rebounds was her 11th double-double of the season, increasing her CSU school-record to 43 in her career.
- Graham's career ranks as one of the best statistically in school-history as she leaves as the school-record holder for rebounds (1,167) to rank eighth in MEAC history. A native of Upper Marlboro, Md., Graham also ranks first in free throws made (402), fourth in points (1,353), fourth in blocks (97) and sixth in 3-pointer's (81).
- E'Mya Price tallied six points and set career-highs with seven rebounds and five steals.
- Aliyah Lawson also had six points, four assists and a pair of steals while freshman backcourt mate Alexandria Hamilton finished with three points and three assists.
- In her final collegiate game, Oluwadamilola Oloyede made both of her shots, finishing with four points, four rebounds and two steals.
- UMES outshot Coppin, 39.7% to 36.0% and turned 25 CSU turnovers into 26 points.
- Mya Thomas led all scorers with 21 points.
How it Happened
- Maryland Eastern Shore started off quickly, scoring the first four points of the game before taking a 13-7 lead with 2:22 remaining on a jumper.
- Coppin's defense then took over which led to baskets on the other end and the Eagles finished the quarter on a 5-0 run, including a buzzer-beating layup by Jalynda Salley to make it a 13-12 deficit after the first.
- CSU kept that momentum running early in the second, scoring the first 11 points to make it a 16-0 run over a 7:02 stretch. Salley had six of the team's first 11 points of the period while Aliyah Lawson buried a three and also fed Chance Graham inside for an easy layup.
- UMES' Mya Thomas hit back-to-back layups to stop the drought and the Hawks cut their deficit to as little as 27-24 with 2:05 remaining on a layup by Bairesha Gill-Miles.
- E'Mya Price answered with a jumper from the corner and Graham buried a three to extend the lead back to 32-24 but a pair of free throws by UMES in the closing seconds made it a 32-26 score at the break.
- The Hawks scored the first seven points of the second half to take their first lead since early in the first quarter, but that was short-lived as Graham found Salley in the low post for an easy bucket.
- The Navy & Gold maintained a slight lead until a layup by Thomas with just over four minutes left in the third gave UMES a 40-38 lead.
- Oluwadamilola Oloyede tied it up at 40-40 on the ensuing possession with a layup after rebounding her own miss but Maryland Eastern Shore hit back-to-back threes and led 49-44 going into the final period.
- UMES got five-straight points from Brooklyn Bailey to start the fourth, making it a 54-44 score but Coppin fought back, starting with a jumper by Price, followed by a three from Tyree Allen with just over seven minutes left in regulation.
- Graham made 1-of-2 free throws just under the six-minute mark to cut the score to 54-50 but UMES closed out the game on an 8-0 run to advance to the Quarterfinals.
Quotables:
Head Coach Dewayne Burroughs Opening Statement
"It's been an interesting season as we are one of the youngest teams in the Country, actually we are the youngest team in the Country, so our future is bright. I think today we didn't step up when we needed to in the second half and Eastern Shore did a fantastic job with the game plan in the second half. We turned the ball over too many times and just couldn't finish the game."
Head Coach DeWayne Burroughs on Chance Graham's Career
"It was a historic career for Chance. She is probably one of the best players to ever play at Coppin State University. I've been at Coppin a long time as a student and as a coach so I can say that. I was on the first women's basketball team that won a MEAC Championship in 1991 and I've seen a lot of good ball players on that team and a lot of those people were pretty good. She can clearly say that she's one of the best to ever play at Coppin when you have 1,00 rebounds and 1,000 points. She's a great kid to be around. I'm very impressed. I really wish I could've sat back and watched some of the games that she played when she got her double doubles, when she got her 26 or 27 rebounds, and 24 or 25 points a night. That's very impressive. That's hard to do on any level and she did it as a Division I basketball player. Not only did she do that in the MEAC, but she did it out of conference as well. As you know, the past four years we've probably played one of the toughest schedules in the Country. She did it against the Baylor's, she did it against the West Virginia's, she did it against anybody that we stepped onto the court with. I'm glad that she took pride, and Coppin Pride, every time that she stepped onto the floor to play the best that she possibly could play. She had her ups and down games, but for the most part, she had way too many up games to single out the down games that she had. I'm very proud that I've coached her, and it's a blessing in my career to say that I coached one of the best kids to ever come through Coppin State and to this conference."
