BALTIMORE – Aliyah Lawson led all players with 18 points and
Abby Weiss added a career-high ten points off the bench to help Coppin State women's basketball to a come-from-behind, 56-54 MEAC victory over Delaware State on Monday night at PEC Arena. The victory was the Eagles first of the season and the first for first-year head coach
Laura Harper.
Lawson made 6-of-15 shots from the field with five 3-pointers on the day while adding six rebounds and three steals. Weiss made all three of her field goal attempts, including a pair of threes, and also buried both of her free throw attempts.
CSU also got contributions from freshman
Hope Evans who tallied eight points, three rebounds and three assists.
Jalynda Salley added six points with three blocks and
Alexandria Hamilton chipped in with five.
Delaware State led by as many as 38-26 with 5:57 left in the third but Coppin went on a long run, scoring 16 unanswered points to take a 42-38 lead with just under a minute to go in the period. Lawson made a pair of threes during the rally, including a long three with the shot clock winding down to pull Coppin within 38-36. CSU took the lead on a three by Weiss at the 2:13 mark before a fastbreak layup and free throw by
Hope Evans.
The Hornets managed to tie the score at 42-42 just before the end of the period and neither team could gain any real advantage for much of the final ten minutes of regulation.
With the score tied at 53-53, Sha Collins hit 1-of-2 free throws to give DSU the lead with 1:21 left to play. CSU turned the ball over on the ensuing possession but forced a missed jumper on the other end which prompted Coach Harper to call a 30 second timeout.
The Eagles used the timeout to call a play for Salley inside and she delivered with a game-winning layup off a pass by Hamilton with 23 ticks to go. Following a DSU timeout, Coppin's defense caused another miss by the Hornets and Lawson hit a free throw to seal the game.
Coppin outshot Delaware State by a wide margin, 42.6% to 32.4% but turned the ball over 31 times which led to 26 Hornets points. The Eagles hit nine 3-pointers on 17 attempts (52.9%).
The same two teams will battle again tomorrow night at PEC Arena as part of a 5:30 MEAC doubleheader.
