BALTIMORE, Md. (March 6, 2008)-Last season’s regular season finale between Morgan State and Coppin State at the Coppin Center was perhaps the revival or even the start of what could become an exciting rivalry between the two women’s programs.
Although the result was a 14-point victory for host Coppin State, its 14th straight over Morgan State, it also proved that Morgan State could play with the league’s elite team.
Heading into tonight’s season finale, Morgan State entered the contest on a two-game winning streak against Coppin, including a shocking 69-67 upset victory over the Lady Eagles in the semifinal’s of last season’s tournament and a 63-55 win earlier this season at Coppin State to end the Lady Eagles’ 41-game regular season winning streak over league opponents.
But all the recent sweetness of success would come to an end, as Coppin State’s Whitney Cunningham scored a game-high 21 points and Rashida Suber added 19, to lead visiting Coppin State to a 71-58 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory over Morgan State on Thursday evening at Hill Field House, thus spoiling Senior Night for the Lady Bears.
Coppin State (19-11, 13-3 MEAC), which secured the No. 2 spot in next week’s MEAC Tournament, also received 14 points and 11 points, respectively, from Danielle Anders and Shalamar Oakley in the win. Suber had a game-high five steals and tied for the team-high with eight rebounds.
With the loss, Morgan State, finished in a three-way tie for fourth-place in the league standings, but will be the No. 6 seed due to tie-breaker scenarios held by both Hampton and Maryland Eastern Shore, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, over Morgan State. The defeat to Coppin State was also Morgan’s eighth straight regular season finale loss to the Lady Eagles.
Morgan State (18-11, 10-6 MEAC) was led by senior Shalane Price, who finished with 13 points in her final home game as a Lady Bear. Corin Adams added 11 points, four steals and a game-high six assists, while senior Britney Griffin had seven points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds, giving her 674 for her career and moving her into fifth-place all-time at Morgan State.
Coppin State jumped on the Lady Bears, scoring the game’s first 10 points and led by as much as 13 points (34-21), following a layup by Oakley with 5:47 left in the half. But Morgan would close out on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to 36-30 at the break.
The guests cushion blossomed to 49-32, following a three-point play by Cunningham with 14:30 remaining in the game to cap off a 16-2 run to start the second half. Morgan State fought back and pulled within eight points twice, with the last coming on two free throws by Jasmine Sellers, to make it a 61-53 game with 5:09 left.
Morgan State shot 28 percent (21-of-73) for the game, while Coppin was 28-of-63 (44 percent) from the field. The Lady Eagles outrebounded Morgan State 51-41 and recorded four blocks, three of which came from Cunningham. The hosts did hold a 14-9 advantage in steals, giving them 388 steals for the regular season.
The Lady Bears will now prepare for next week’s MEAC Tournament, when they take on No. 11 Norfolk State (5-22, 1-15 MEAC) in a first round game on Tuesday, March 11, at 4 p.m. at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C. Morgan State won this season’s only meeting, 87-54, in Norfolk, Va. (1/14). However, the Spartans hold a 1-0 advantage over Morgan in MEAC Tournament play after recording a 90-84 double-overtime semifinal victory during the 2000 MEAC Tournament in Richmond, Va.
