BALTIMORE – Angel Jones hit a game-winning layup in the closing seconds, lifting Coppin State women's basketball team to a 72-70 victory over Frostburg State in its season opener on Monday night at PEC Arena.
Inside the Numbers
- Jones scored a team-high 20 points on 10-of-15 shooting and added three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
- Laila Lawrence, the reigning MEAC Defensive Player of the Year, added 19 points while leading the Eagles with seven rebounds. She also had three assists, a block and two steals.
- Tyler Gray was also in double figures, finishing with 13 points, six assists and a pair of steals.
- Tiffany Hammond hit three 3-pointers for nine points and added six rebounds and three steals.
- In her CSU debut, Arielle-Vadrelle Belinga tallied five points with three rebounds as Cire Worley, Khya Jenkins and Dani McTeer added buckets.
- Frostburg also put three players in double figures, led by Emilee Weakley, the Division II leading scorer, with 22 points and 16 rebounds.
How it Happened
- Coppin got out to a fast start, forcing several turnovers which led to easy layups. Hammond hit a pair of threes in the opening quarter, including one in the final minute to put the Eagles up 22-15 after the first.
- CSU maintained a small lead for most of the second period before a 6-0 Bobcats run put the visitors up 36-32 with 1:47 left in the half.
- Jones hit a floater on the ensuing possession to make it a 36-34 score at the half.
- Frostburg pushed its lead to 42-34 with six-straight points to open the second half before Hammond buried another three, starting a 14-2 run which put Coppin back on top 48-44.
- Lawrence went to work inside in the final minute of the third with four points, putting CSU up 59-53 going into the fourth.
- Lawrence started the fourth right where she left off, scoring on a pair of layups to give the Eagles their largest lead at 63-53 with 7:46 remaining.
- FSU responded with a 10-0 run to tie the score with 4:11 remaining before Lawrence stopped the drought with another layup.
- A pair of free throws by Lawrence at the 1:42 mark gave the Eagles back the lead at 67-65 and Khya Jenkins put back a miss to give CSU a four-point lead with just under a minute left.
- Frostburg hit a layup on the next possession, forced an Eagles miss and buried a three with 21 seconds left to go up 70-69.
- Coppin advanced the ball to midcourt after calling a timeout and found Jones sneaking into the painted area for the eventual game-winner.
- FSU turned the ball over at the other end before Gray hit 1-of-2 free throws, and Hammond blocked a last-second shot attempt to preserve the win.
Up Next: The Eagles return to action on Thursday, November 7 when they head to College Park to face #18 Maryland in a 6 pm start on B1G+.
