Women’s Hoops’ Historic Season Ends in Second Round of WNIT in Overtime

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Despite a game-high 27 points from Angel Jones, Coppin State's women's basketball's historic season ended with a 72-70 overtime loss to Cleveland State in the Second Round of the WNIT on Tuesday night at Woodling Gym.  The Eagles finish the season at 19-15 overall, recording their most victories since the 2011-12 season.
 
Checking the Box Score

• Jones hit a career-high 12-of-22 shots from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers and added four rebounds, three assists, a block and four steals.
• Cire Worley hit three 3-pointers to finish with 13 points to go with four rebounds and a pair of steals.
• Laila Lawrence battled foul trouble throughout the game but managed to record nine points and ten rebounds in just 17 minutes.
• Tyler Gray and Niyah Gaston pitched in with eight points apiece, followed by Arielle-Vadrelle Belinga with three and Tiffany Hammond with a pair.  Gray and Gaston hit two 3-pointers apiece with Gaston getting a pair of steals.
• Coppin outrebounded Cleveland State, 39-36 and forced the Vikings into 21 turnovers and turned that into 18 second-chance points and 23 points off turnovers.
• The Eagles managed to shoot just 37.7% from the floor with nine 3-pointers compared to 49.0% for the Vikings, who made seven 3-pointers and hit 15-of-23 free throws compared to just 3-of-4 for Coppin.
• Coppin was credited with 21 fouls compared to just seven for the Vikings, with Lawrence, Belinga and Dani McTeer combining for 13 fouls for the Eagles.

How it Happened

• Neither team scored for the first 3:43 of the game until Worley buried a three at the 6:17 mark of the first.
• Cleveland State scored the next five points before Gray tied it up, starting a 7-0 Eagles run which also saw a layup from Jones and a three from Gaston.
• The Vikings pulled to within 12-11 but Worley buried a three just before time expired, giving Coppin a 15-11 lead.
• Coppin led for most of the second quarter before the Vikings three broke a tie with 46 seconds remaining.
• As the buzzer sounded at the half, Gray banked in a three from just inside midcourt to tie the game at 32.
• After several ties and lead changes in the third, Coppin took a 44-43 lead into the fourth and built its largest lead at 52-43 on a three-point play by Lawrence with 8:23 left in regulation.
• Cleveland State pulled to within 52-51 with eight-straight points before buckets by Jones and Lawrence extended the lead back to five with 5:49 left.
• The Vikings hit a three with a minute left, and following a pair of misses by Coppin, hit 1-of-2 free throws after Lawrence fouled out on an entry pass into the post with six seconds left.
• With two fouls still to give, Coppin was unable to get a good shot off at the end of regulation.
• The teams traded buckets to open overtime as Jones went nearly head-to-head with the Vikings, scoring nine points in the final five minutes.
• Jones cut Cleveland State's lead to 69-67 with 21 seconds left, but the Vikings answered with 3-of-4 free throws.
• Worley hit a three with two seconds left to make it a two-point game, and after the hosts missed both free throws, Coppin was unable to get a desperation heave off before the buzzer.

Milestone Tracker

• Coppin set single-season school records for non-conference wins (10), assists (453) and 3-point field goals (230).
• Jones became the 11^th Eagles player to record over 500 points in a season, finishing with 516 points which is the 9^th-most in school history. She'll enter next season with 954 career points and 792 points in just two seasons at Coppin.
• Lawrence finished the season with a school-record 359 rebounds this season and her 672 rebounds in just two seasons at Coppin rank 11^th all-time. She passed LaShawn Scott and ranks 16^th in school history with 971 points after scoring 548 points this season (7^th-most in CSU history).
• The 2023 and 2024 MEAC Defensive Player of the Year, Lawrence's 85 steals are the fourth-most in school history and her 45 blocks were the fourth most.
• Jones' 208 field goals are the sixth-most in CSU single-season history, and Lawrence's 200 field goals are 8th-most.
• Tiffany Hammond's 69 3-pointers this season are the sixth-most in CSU history.