BALTIMORE – Coppin State women's basketball team shot just 27.9% from the field in a 64-54 loss at Morgan State on Thursday night at Hill Field House. The Eagles closed the regular season with a 9-22 overall record and 6-8 mark in the MEAC while the Bears moved to 5-25 on the year and 4-10 in league play.
Patricia Sosa Lora and
Paris McBride scored 12 points apiece and they were followed by
Khila Morris with 11 points. Sosa Lora notched a double-double with 13 rebounds while
Shanaii Gamble grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds. McBride also dished out five assists, followed by Morris with three, and both Morris and
Erin Henry added a pair of steals.
Morgan State outshot Coppin by hitting 20-of-48 (41.7%) from the floor and 20-of-29 from the line. Despite outrebounding the Bears, 47-41, with 23 offensive rebounds, the Eagles were unable to take advantage of 20 extra shot attempts and shot 12-of-23 (52.2%) from the line.
The Bears scored the first six points of the game, but Coppin picked it up and pulled to within 10-8 with just under three minutes left in the first quarter on a layup by Sosa Lora. Both teams went cold for the next two minutes before Morgan got a pair of free throws and buried a three in the closing seconds of the period.
In the second quarter, Morgan built its lead to as many as 26-15 with 3:01 remaining before McBride scored four-straight, followed by a transition layup by Morris to just the lead in half. After a Bears three, extended the lead back to eight, Henry hit a triple and McBride hit two free throws to make it a 29-26 deficit at the half.
After trailing throughout the game, Coppin enjoyed its first lead at 46-43, following an old-fashioned three-point play by Sosa Lora at the 1:14 mark of the third. That was short lived as the Bears came right back to tie the score with three-straight points to close the quarter.
The Bears opened the fourth quarter with a three, and following a layup by Gamble, Morgan began to pull away as Coppin made just 2-of-17 from the floor and 4-of-8 from the line in the final ten minutes.
CSU earned the #4 seed in the MEAC Tournament and will take on #5 N.C. Central in the Quarterfinals at 12:00 pm on Thursday, March 12 at Norfolk Scope Arena.
