NORFOLK, Va. – Coppin State's women's basketball team's season came to an end with a 56-45 loss to second-seeded Norfolk State in MEAC Quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon at Scope Arena.
Aliyah Lawson scored a team-high 12 points while
Alexandria Hamilton added 11 more to lead Coppin on the offensive end.
Hope Evans chipped in with eight points while
Jalynda Salley added seven points and led the Eagles with eight rebounds. Lawson and
Nailah Delinois both grabbed seven rebounds apiece and Evans dished out four assists.
The Eagles shot just 25.4% from the floor but stayed in the game by staying aggressive at both ends of the floor, making 11-of-16 free throws and forcing 15 Norfolk State turnovers. Coppin grabbed 12 offensive rebounds and held a 7-4 advantage on second chance points.
Coppin led for most of the opening quarter as Salley recorded four of the team's 11 points and a layup by Lawson gave the Eagles an 11-10 advantage with just under a minute to go. Norfolk leading scorer, Jalynn Holmes, who came off the bench today, hit a layup with 27 seconds to go to give the Spartans a 12-11 lead after the first.
Lawson buried a three immediately out of the gate in the second, putting Coppin back on top, 14-12, but the Spartans ran off five-straight to retake the lead. The Eagles were able to pull within two a couple of times before the half and
Roni Richardson hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to make it a 26-23 deficit.
Hamilton hit a layup 34 seconds into the second half, cutting the lead to a single point but Norfolk went on a 7-0 run and led 44-35 after three quarters after Hamilton drove in for another layup.
Evans hit three free throws and Lawson drove in for a floater as Coppin started the fourth on a 5-0 run, pulling to within 44-40 with 7:30 to play. The Spartans responded with five-straight of their own until
Abby Weiss stopped the spurt with a three from the corner at the 3:20 mark.
The teams traded buckets but NSU closed the game with five unanswered points.
