BALTIMORE – Coppin State's women's basketball team won its sixth-straight game with a thrilling 56-48 victory over Norfolk State on Saturday afternoon at PEC Arena. The Eagles improved to 14-9 on the season and their 8-2 mark in conference play moves them into first place in the MEAC. CSU also clinched a winning record on the season for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign.
Jaia Alexander led three Eagles in double figures, notching another double-double with a team-high 14 points and ten rebounds while
Aliyah Lawson added 13 points.
Colleen Bucknor was a perfect 5-of-5 from floor for 10 points and added nine rebounds.
With three more 3-pointer's, Lawson passed Hall of Famer
Rashida Suber for fourth on Coppin's single-season list and now has a MEAC-leading 60 trifectas on the season.
Mossi Staples was all over the floor for the Eagles, recording seven points, six steals and three assists as both
Alexandria Hamilton and
Jewel Watkins chipped in with five points.
Hope Evans continued her impressive play, contributing four assists and four steals while hitting a pair of shots from the stripe.
Both teams started out slow with Norfolk State holding a slim 9-7 lead after the first quarter. Neither team shot well, combining to shoot just 7-of-33 (21.2%) and the defensive intensity continued into the second quarter.
Norfolk shot 6-of-11 from the floor in the second period but Coppin stayed in it by getting to the free throw line. Alexander and Hamilton made five shots from the stripe in the quarter, cutting the deficit to just 21-18 going into halftime.
Coppin shot the lights out in the second half, hitting 11-of-22 (50%) from the floor with four 3-pointers while getting to the line often, making 12-of-15 from the stripe.
The Spartans started with the second half with a pair of early buckets, but Coppin regrouped following a timeout. Hamilton started a CSU run with a three-point play before another 9-0 Eagles run later in the session, sparked by a pair of layups from Bucknor, which tied the score at 34-34 with 22 seconds left.
Norfolk scored just before the buzzer to take a 36-34 advantage, but Coppin scored the first eight points of the fourth with another layup from Bucknor and six free throws from Lawson and Staples. The Spartans came right back with seven-straight to retake the lead at 43-42 with 5:38 left to play.
Lawson then went to work, hitting a three with 4:25 to play and a floater inside at 2:42 before Alexander drove in for a layup, giving CSU a 49-43 advantage with just under two minutes remaining. NSU attempted to come back with a pair of quick free throws, but another triple from Lawson was the final dagger as Coppin cruised to victory.
The Eagles return to action on Monday, February 21 when they travel to face Howard in a 4 pm MEAC tipoff.
