NORFOLK, Va. – Coppin State's
Jaia Alexander has been named the MEAC Women's Basketball Preseason Player of the Year, it was announced by the league office on its Preseason Video Conference on Thursday morning. Additionally, in the Predicted Order of Finish which was voted on by the MEAC's head coaches and sports information directors, the Eagles received a pair of first place votes and were picked to finish third.
Alexander was the 2022 MEAC Player of the Year and was also placed on the Preseason All-MEAC First Team.
Mossi Staples earned Second Team Preseason accolades while
Jalynda Salley was named to the Third Team.
A native of Baltimore, Md., Alexander led the league in scoring last season at 15.5 points per game while finishing fourth with 7.1 rebounds per game. Alexander also posted a league-high six double-doubles, ranked second in free throw percentage (79.1%) and seventh in field goal percentage (40.1%). Reaching double figures in 18 games, Alexander recorded three 30-plus point games, which included a career-high 35 points with 12 rebounds against Delaware State. She also posted 30 points in her CSU debut during the season-opener at La Salle, and 33 points in the MEAC Tournament against Maryland Eastern Shore.
Staples averaged 10.6 points and 2.6 rebounds in her first season at Coppin while also leading the team with 83 assists (3.0 per game) and 72 steals (2.6 per game). A redshirt junior from Fort Washington, Md., Staples reached the 20-point plateau four times with a career-high 24 points against South Carolina State where she added a season-high seven rebounds with three assists and five steals. Staples was a Third Team All-MEAC selection last season, hitting at least ten free throws in two games (10-of-11 vs. NC Central & 10-of-12 vs. Maryland).
An All-Defensive Team selection last season, Salley averaged 7.7 points and 6.7 rebounds to go with 24 blocks. Salley also shot a career-high 47.9 percent from the floor, which ranked second in the MEAC, and enters her final collegiate season ranked third in school-history with 106 blocks. A redshirt senior from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Salley notched a pair of double-doubles against Morgan State and Saint Peter's and tallied a season-high 19 points with nine rebounds and three blocks against Winthrop.
The Eagles, led by first-year head coach
Jermaine Woods, open the 2022-23 season when it hosts Pittsburgh on Monday, November 7 at 7 pm.
