Coppin Takes Round 1 Of Battle of Baltimore, 80-77
Tracey Carrington came off the bench and led Morgan State with 14 points.

Coppin Takes Round 1 Of Battle of Baltimore, 80-77

2/4/2012 5:56:00 PM

Bear Shots

BALTIMORE, Md. (Feb. 4, 2012)-Shawntae Payne scored a game-high 18 points and Crystal Whittington and Leola Spotwood added 13 and 12 points, respectively to lead visiting Coppin State past rival Morgan State, 80-77 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) contest on Saturday afternoon at Hill Field House.

The victory was the third straight for Coppin State and the second consecutive win over Morgan, increasing its all-time series lead to 34-26 over the Lady Bears.

Just like they did in their upset win at Hampton last week, the Eagles found a way to get to the free throw line. Coppin State went to the charity stripe 36 times, connecting on 25 of them. Morgan State got to the free throw line only 11 times and made nine.

Coppin State (13-10, 8-2 MEAC) built a nine-point (23-14) lead following a three-pointer by Payne with 7:08 remaining in the opening half. Morgan State then countered with a 13-2 spurt over the next four minutes to regain the lead at 27-25 after two free throws by Moneshia Davis.

That would be the Lady Bears last lead of the contest, as Coppin State closed out the first half on a 9-2 run to take a 34-29 advantage at the break.

Morgan State (6-16, 3-6 MEAC) battled back from seven-point deficits three times in the second half and pulled within 57-56 after DeKeisha Mathis drained a three-pointer with 8:48 to play. However, three minutes later the visiting Eagles extended their lead to 11 points (69-58) with a 12-2 run.

The Lady Bears would get within three points on five separate occasions, the last coming on a layup by Chyress Lockhart with 0.9 left for the game's final score.

Morgan State which fell to 2-3 at home with the loss was led by Tracey Carrington, who came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points. Amarah Williams added 13 points, while Omara Parker also came off the bench and finished with 12 points. Davis and Mathis each had 10 points for the Lady Bears.

For just the fourth time this season the Lady Bears out rebounded an opponent, holding a slim 43-42 advantage. Davis and Williams led Morgan State with eight rebounds each. Coppin State was led by Leola Spotwood, who had a game-high nine rebounds.

Morgan State returns to action on Monday, Feb. 6th, when it plays host to beltway rival Howard. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m. at Hill Field House. Morgan State defeated the Lady Bison in last season's lone meeting during the regular season in Baltimore, but Howard then eliminated Morgan State in the seminfinals of the MEAC Tournament.  
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