Jamie Smith scored a team-high 13 points, including a near half court shot to end the game.
Morgan State 58, Coppin State 74
BALTIMORE, Md. (March 3, 2011)-Perhaps the only bright spot for Morgan State in the second half of Thursday evening's Battle of Baltimore “East vs. West” game against cross-town rival Coppin State, was #Jamesia (Jamie) Smith#'s near half court shot as the final horn sounded to turn a 19-point deficit into a 16 point loss.
Coppin State's Leola Spotwood recorded a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, both game-highs and Larrisa Carter added a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds to lead the host Eagles to a 74-58 thumping of Morgan State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) season finale for both teams at the Physical Education Complex (PEC).
Morgan State (16-13, 10-6 MEAC) was led by Smith, who finished with 13 points, while Theresa Davis, who was playing in her first game back, since dealing with an injury following the South Carolina State game (2/14), came off the bench to add 10 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the free throw line.
The loss ended a three-game winning streak over Coppin State and was Morgan State's worst road loss to the Eagles since a 14-point (67-53) defeat on March 2, 2007 at the Coppin Center. The 74 points allowed also matched the most points surrendered by Morgan State this season, tying that of Miami in a 74-47 loss on Dec. 30.
All season long the Lady Bears have had no problem getting up for big games and opponents, while in less meaningful games just seemed to show up and whatever happened, happened. Just three days prior against North Carolina A&T with second-place on the line the Lady Bears played their best game of the year in defeating the Lady Aggies on the road.
Entering Thursday's contest with second-place in the league standings already wrapped up and a three-game winning streak over its rival, one might think that playing for bragging rights and wanting to finish the regular season on a high note would be enough motivation. Unfortunately, it wasn't.
Coppin State (12-16, 9-7 MEAC) outplayed and outhustled Morgan State and seemed to want the game more. The Eagles held a 52-31 rebounding advantage over Morgan State, outscored the guests 26-15 in the paint and held a 23-8 advantage in second chance points.
The competitive game in first half quickly turned one-sided, as the Eagles, who came into the game in a tie for fifth-place with Florida A&M, looked like they were the No. 2 team in the league, while Morgan State looked more like the 11th-seed.
Morgan State held a 36-32 halftime lead, before Coppin State came out with a 12-0 run to start the second half and take a 44-36 lead a little over three minutes in. It would be a lead that the host Eagles would not relinquish.
Brittany Noel stopped the bleeding with a free throw with 16:06 to play and Theresa Davis added two more free throws to bring the Lady Bears within 48-41 at the 13:54 mark, but that was as close as Morgan State would get.
Coppin State would put together another 12-0 spurt in the midst of a ridiculous 18-4 run in the span of seven minutes to take a commanding 66-45 lead with 5:32 remaining in the contest. After Morgan State got three quick baskets, Spotwood converted on a layup and hit the free throw to match the Eagles' largest lead of the game, 72-51 (21 points) with 3:08 left.
The Lady Bears will now prepare for next week's MEAC Tournament, where they will await the winner of No. 10 Delaware State and No. 7 Maryland Eastern Shore, who will square off on Tuesday, March 8 at 11 a.m. Tip-off for Morgan's quarterfinal game will be Wednesday, March 9 at 10 a.m. The Lady Bears have not advanced in the MEAC Tournament since reaching the title game in 2007.
