BALTIMORE – Four Coppin State women's basketball players scored in double figures in a 77-70 MEAC victory over North Carolina Central on Saturday afternoon at PEC Arena. CSU improved to 4-14 overall and 2-1 in the MEAC while NC Central fell to 3-13 on the year and 0-3 in league play.
Paris McBride scored a team-high 17 points with four steals while hitting 8-of-10 free throws and was followed by
Khila Morris with 16 points and both
Erin Henry and
Shanaii Gamble with 14 points apiece. Morris stuffed the stat sheet with five rebounds, seven assists and three steals while Gamble finished a rebound shy of a double-double.
CSU also got contributions from its bench as
Skylar Barnes added eight points and
Kyley Gary-Grayson recorded four points and four steals in just eight minutes.
Coppin was narrowly outshot, 43.6% to 43.5% but hit 11 3-pointers on 42.3% shooting from deep and 26-of-33 free throws.
The Navy & Gold came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, recording the game's first nine points on threes from Henry and McBride. After Central got on the board, CSU scored another ten-straight points to go up by 17 and 19-4 after the first.
Central slowly made its way back into the game, pulling to within 32-25 with 1:36 left in the half before Gamble scored eight of the next ten points to make it a 40-27 score at halftime.
Both teams played nearly even in the third before the visitors made a last-ditch effort in the fourth. Central was able to pull within five at two different points, including with 35 seconds remaining before McBride sealed the win with a pair of free throws ten seconds later.
CSU returns to action on Thursday, January 15 at league-leading Maryland Eastern Shore before hosting #3 South Carolina at 12 pm on Sunday, January 18.
