BALTIMORE – Laila Lawrence posted her sixth-straight double-double and 13
th of the season as the Coppin State women's basketball team dropped a 64-51 decision to Norfolk State on Saturday afternoon at PEC Arena. The Eagles fell to 9-15 overall and 6-4 in the MEAC while the Spartans improved to 20-5 on the year and 9-1 in league play.
A junior from Lewisville, Texas, Lawrence led Coppin with 13 points and just missed another 20-rebound game with a game-high 19. Lawrence hit 5-of-11 from the floor, grabbed ten offensive rebounds and was credited with a pair of steals.
Tyler Gray had one of her best games of the season, tallying 12 points, six rebounds and a season-high four assists while
Angel Jones went for ten points and a career-high eight rebounds.
Tiffany Hammond and
Faith Blackstone both scored five points, followed by
Mossi Staples and
Niyah Gaston with three each.
Norfolk State outshot Coppin, 39.6% to 30.9%, but Coppin outrebounded the Spartans, 44-29 and scored 16 second-chance points. The Eagles committed 19 turnovers which turned into 15 points for NSU.
How it Happened
- Jones and Blackstone opened the game with back-to-back threes, giving Coppin an early 6-4 lead, but Norfolk retook the advantage and hit a three just before the end of the period to go up 18-14.
- Coppin started the second quarter on an 8-0 run, capped off by an old-fashioned three-point play by Lawrence at the 6:29 mark, giving the Eagles a 22-18 lead.
- Norfolk came right back with seven-straight points and it extended its lead to five points at the half.
- Seven-straight points by the Spartans to start the second half gave the visitors a 12-point lead and they led by as many as 15 in the period.
- Early layups by Gray and Jones cut the deficit to 51-40 with 8:43 remaining in regulation, but that was as close as CSU got the rest of the way.
Up Next: Coppin heads to Howard for a 5:30 pm MEAC tipoff on Monday, February 26. The Eagles are tied for third place in the conference standings, one game behind the Bison who are in second place.
