WASHINGTON, D.C. – Aliyah Lawson scored a game-high 16 points and
Alexandria Hamilton matched a career-high with 13 points, but the Coppin State women's basketball team went cold in the second half and fell at Howard, 60-52, on Saturday afternoon at Burr Gymnasium. The Eagles now stand at 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the MEAC while Howard moves to 6-2 on the year with a 2-1 mark in league play.
Half of Lawson's production came from the charity stripe as she made 8-of-11 shots from the line while also grabbing five rebounds. Hamilton made 5-of-10 from the floor and led the Eagles with three assists.
Also contributing offensively for the Eagles was
Jalynda Salley with nine points and a game-high ten rebounds.
Abby Weiss made her first career start and finished with eight points, a career-high eight rebounds and two steals.
Coppin led, 32-28 at the half, but made just 5-of-29 (17.2%) from the floor in the second half. The Eagles defense allowed Howard to shoot just 34.4% for the game but were unable to hold on to the lead. CSU also made just 14-of-25 (56.0%) free throws.
Neither team could pull away early in the first quarter until Hamilton hit back-to-back 3-pointers to close out the period, including one at the buzzer, giving Coppin a 19-13 lead.
Hope Evans hit a free throw after the stoppage and Lawson drained a triple off a pass by Hamilton, giving the Eagles their largest lead at 23-13 with 7:48 left in the half.
Howard cut into the deficit before halftime and regained the lead with a 5-0 run to start the second half at 33-32. Lawson gave CSU back the lead with a trifecta just 40 seconds later, but Howard went on a 10-0 run midway through the third and took a 49-41 advantage going into the final period.
Lawson and Hamilton combined for three early free throws to start the fourth, pulling Coppin to within five points, but the Eagles were unable to get any closer.
The same two teams will meet tomorrow afternoon in a 2 pm tipoff at Burr Gymnasium.
