NORFOLK, Va. – Coppin State's
Laila Lawrence and
Faith Blackstone received major awards and also earned First Team All-Conference honors as the MEAC held its annual BBT Postseason Basketball Awards Show on Tuesday night at Chrysler Hall. Lawrence was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year while Blackstone received Sixth Player of the Year accolades.
Additionally,
Angel Jones earned Second Team accolades while Lawrence was named to the MEAC All-Defensive Team.
This is the first time since 2022 that the Eagles have had two players named First Team All-Conference. It also is the first time since that season where three players were named to All-MEAC Teams. Lawrence is the third CSU player to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors, joining Whitney Cunningham (2009) and Chance Graham.
A junior from Lewisville, Texas, Lawrence led the MEAC with 15 double-doubles and 10.6 rebounds per game, both of which ranked in the top 20 nationally. Lawrence also sits eighth nationally with 4.5 rebounds per game. One of the top all-around players in the conference, Lawrence also ranks second in the league in scoring (14.1), third in field goal percentage (46.6), total blocks (34) and blocks per game (1.2), fourth in total steals (51) and steals per game (1.8), and fifth in minutes played (31.1). Lawrence also led the league with 164 free throw attempts.
In conference action, Lawrence was even better, averaging 14.7 points and 12.8 rebounds, ranking fourth and first in the MEAC, respectively. Lawrence shot 46.7 percent from the field in those games while ranking second in blocks (19) and blocks per game (1.4) and third in both steals (32) and steals per game (2.3).
Lawrence scored in double figures in all but four games this season, going for at least 20 points in six games. She tallied a career-high 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting to go with 17 rebounds, three blocks and two steals in the regular season finale at Morgan State. Lawrence also had 27 points at Binghamton and 20/10 efforts in a win at FIU and against La Salle. In CSU's first-ever Power Five win at Pittsburgh, Lawrence added 16 points and 11 rebounds. Perhaps her most impressive showing was a 16-point, 25-rebound effort against Delaware State, where she recorded the most rebounds by any NCAA Division I player this season.
Also, in her first season with the Eagles, Blackstone ranked fourth in the MEAC in scoring (12.1) while averaging 4.3 rebounds to go with 27 assists, 15 blocks and 20 steals. A redshirt junior from Harrisburg, Pa., Blackstone averaged 11.7 points, ranking seventh in the MEAC, and 4.3 rebounds in conference games. Blackstone was a standout at getting to the free throw line, ranking fifth in free throws made (86) and free throw attempts (127).
Blackstone scored in double figures in 17 games, which included a career-high 22 points in a win at FIU where she went 8-of-12 from the free throw line. She also led the team in scoring with 19 points at Syracuse, 16 points at Duke, and 15 points in the win at ACC member Pittsburgh.
Jones was a two-time MEAC Player of the Week and averaged 10.7 points and 4.4 rebounds to go with 35 assists and 25 steals while shooting 41.7% from the field and 38.7% from 3-point range. A sophomore from Alexandria, Va., Jones put up 11.6 points and 4.9 rebounds in conference play to go with 1.8 assists and a steal per game. Jones ranked tenth in the league in scoring, fifth in field goal percentage, second in 3-point field goal percentage and fourth in minutes (31.5).
In her first season at Coppin after transferring from Siena, Jones scored 10+ plus in 13 games, including a career-high 22 points with seven rebounds in the season opener against La Salle. Jones matched that points total in a win at Delaware State where she buried four 3-pointers and added 21 points on 9-of-11 free throws in a victory over Maryland Eastern Shore on January 8.
Coppin State (11-17, 8-6 MEAC) earned the fourth seed in the MEAC Tournament and take on #5 Maryland Eastern Shore on Thursday, March 14 in a 12 pm tipoff on ESPN+.
