BALTIMORE – Aliyah Lawson scored a career-high 27 points and pulled down a career-best 12 rebounds as Coppin State's women's basketball team fell to Morgan State, 69-51, on Saturday afternoon at PEC Arena. The eagles fall to 1-6 overall with a 1-4 mark in the MEAC while the Bears improve to 7-2 on the year with a 4-1 record in league play.
Lawson hit five 3-pointers and made 6-of-9 free throws en route to her best offensive output as a collegian. A native of Whitby, Ontario, Canada, Lawson, who is now averaging a league-high 18.3 points in conference play, also had a pair of steals.
Jalynda Salley was the only other Eagles player in double figures as she put up 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Salley scored all of her points in the second half as she made all five of her shots.
The first half was an offensive struggle as the teams combined to shoot 13-of-59 (22.0%) from the floor with Morgan holding a 24-21 lead at the break. The Bears outscored Coppin, 17-14 in the third quarter while making 9-of-10 free throws in the period to take a 41-35 advantage into the final ten minutes.
Salley kept the Eagles alive early in the fourth quarter as she answered four-straight Morgan buckets with layups inside. The Bears then got back-to-back jumpers before a layup by
Alexandria Hamilton cut the deficit to 56-45 with just under three minutes remaining.
Lawson came back with her fourth 3-pointer of the game in response to a Morgan three-point play at the 2:07 mark but the Bears pulled away down the stretch with a 9-0 run.
For the game, Morgan narrowly outshot Coppin, 32.2% to 30.0% and made 27-of-31 free throws compared to just 10-of-17 for the Eagles.
The same two team will meet once again at PEC Arena on Tuesday, February 2 at 5:30 pm.
