BALTIMORE – Laila Lawrence scored a career-high 31 points and the Coppin State women's basketball team made a school-record 15 3-pointers in a 90-57 victory over Delaware State on Saturday afternoon at the PEC Arena. The Eagles improved to 13-9 overall, surpassing their win total from last season, and 4-2 in the MEAC while the Hornets fell to 3-16 on the year and 0-6 in league play.
Checking the Box Score
- Lawrence hit 11-of-20 from the floor and 9-of-13 from the line to put up her career high in points. She also grabbed 11 rebounds for her 13th double-double of the season while adding three assists and three steals.
- With the best offensive game of her career, Lawrence surpassed the 1,500 point mark and now has 1,512 points in her career with just over 800 in a CSU uniform.
- Her 31 points eclipsed the 30 points that she had at Morgan State last season on March 7.
- Niyah Gaston and Tiffany Hammond hit five 3-pointers apiece, scoring 16 and 15 points, respectively. Hammond also had four assists and went over the century mark in career 3-pointers in a CSU uniform.
- Freshman Mickelle Lowry buried three triples for 11 points, matching a season-high, and Cire Worley hit two more for the Eagles. Worley was second to Lawrence with seven rebounds, followed by Lowry with six and Gaston with five.
- Angel Jones matched Worley with six points but dished out a career-high eight assists in just 26 minutes of action.
- Coppin's 90 points were its most since November 9, 2012 when it defeated Cheyney, 97-41. It was its most against a Division I opponent since February 25, 2008, a 101-57 victory over Howard at the Coppin Center.
- The Eagles were credited with 22 assists on 32 baskets and outshot the Hornets, 42.7% to 38.9%. Coppin also hit 38.5% from deep en route to their school-record for threes.
- Coppin's 15 3-pointers surpassed the 14 that it made at Howard on February 26, 2024. The top four 3-point shooting games in school history have come under the leadership of head coach Jermaine Woods.
- Defensively, Coppin forced 22 turnovers which translated into 28 points, and it also outrebounded DSU, 47-34.
How it Happened
- Lawrence and Jones scored nearly all of Coppin's points in the first quarter but Delaware State hung in there, pulling to within three with just under a minute remaining.
- Gaston answered with a three, the team's first of the day with 34 seconds to go before the Hornets closed the period with another bucket.
- Coppin had its best offensive quarter of the season in the second, outscoring DSU, 27-15 to take a 43-27 halftime lead.
- Gaston opened the period with a three, starting a 7-0 CSU run.
- DSU pulled back within 23-18, prompting a CSU timeout, and the Eagles turned it up from there, responding with three-straight threes, with the first from Hammond and the next two by Lowry.
- Hammond and Worley added threes later in the quarter and Lawrence added a layup just before the buzzer.
- Coppin was even better in the third quarter, hitting a whopping 11-of-19 (57.9%) from the floor with another six threes to outscore the Hornets, 31-14.
- With just over three minutes left, Hammond buried a trifecta and came right back with another just 26 seconds later.
- Hammond buried another three following a DSU turnover, followed by one from Gaston, giving Coppin its largest lead at the time at 74-41.
- Lowry opened the fourth quarter with a three and Gaston's triple with 1:22 remaining was the record breaker for the Eagles, putting Coppin up 90-55.
Up Next: Coppin will head East to play Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday, February 3 in a 5:30 pm tipoff on the Delmarva Sports Network.
