BALTIMORE – A layup by
Colleen Bucknor with 40 seconds left put Coppin State's women's basketball team up for good in a 67-65 victory over archrival Morgan State on Saturday afternoon at the Bears' Hill Field House. The Eagles even their record at 7-7 overall with a win in their MEAC opener while MSU falls to 6-5. The win was Coppin's first at MSU since February 4, 2012.
Trailing by a point, Coppin worked the ball around the perimeter before
Aliyah Lawson drove inside and found Bucknor for the open bucket on the left side. The dime was one of Lawson's career-high seven assists on the day.
Mossi Staples led all players with a career-high 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Staples made both of her threes and 7-of-10 from the stripe to go with five assists and four steals. Staples also put the game away in the closing seconds with a steal and breakaway layup to give CSU a 67-63 lead.
Jalynda Salley and
Jaia Alexander also finished in double figures with 14 and 12 points, respectively, while combining for 14 rebounds. Alexander finished with a team-high eight rebounds and was credited with three steals.
Alexandria Hamilton added seven points, followed by Lawson with five, Bucknor with four and
Jewel Watkins hit a three.
Coppin outshot Morgan, 48.0% to 40.0% and held a large advantage at the free throw line, making 15 free throws compared to just eight for the Bears.
The Eagles led for most of the game and led by as many as 46-38 midway through the third quarter. Morgan pulled to within 50-49 before the end of the period before Staples buried a three just before the buzzer to put CSU on top 53-49 going into the final quarter.
Morgan's 63-62 advantage with 2:08 to play was its first lead since midway through the second period.
CSU returns to action on Saturday, January 22 for a MEAC matchup at Norfolk State. Tipoff is slated for 4 pm and can be heard on Blazin' Hot 91 by logging on to
www.coppinstatesports.com
