BALTIMORE – Anya George led four Eagles in double figures with a career-high 20 points as the Coppin State women's basketball team opened the season with an 80-69 victory over Cheyney on Monday night at PEC Arena.
 
A sophomore from Chester, Pa., George led all players in scoring, hitting 7-of-16 from the floor with three 3-pointers while going 3-of-4 from the line.  Making her CSU debut after transferring in from UMass, George added five rebounds, two blocks and three steals.
 
Karen Nimo followed with 13 points and eight rebounds while Shanaii Gamble added 11 points and senior transfer Samari Taylor posted a double-double with ten points and 11 rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end.
 
In her collegiate debut, freshman Arly Zapata tallied eight points with six rebounds, followed by Amber Howard with seven points and five rebounds.  Jayleen Jones and Bray'ana Miles chipped in with five and four points, respectively, in their collegiate debuts, and Delaney Cooper finished with two points to go with four steals.
 
Coppin outshot Cheyney, 40.8% to 34.4% and held a 54-37 advantage on the glass.  The scrappy Wolves team stayed alive with 11 3-pointers and made 14-of-16 free throws.
 
The Eagles began to put some distance between their opponents with the final six points of the first half on a pair of putbacks from Taylor followed by a transition layup by Nimo with just under a minute left.
 
At the end of the third, Coppin extended its lead to 62-47 as Zapata and Nimo sandwiched a pair of Cheyney free throws in the closing seconds and led by as many as 67-49 in the fourth with 6:53 left to play.
 
CSU is set to host Tennessee at 7:00 pm on Thursday, November 5 at PEC Arena.  The clash with the eight-time National Champions will air live on the MEAC Network.