BALTIMORE, Md. (Feb. 27, 2016)-The Coppin State Lady Eagles had a lot to play for in Saturday's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) contest against crosstown rival Morgan State. For starters, if playing your rival wasn't enough, it was not only Homecoming, but also Senior Day at Coppin State. Then add in the fact that earlier in the month, Morgan State had dealt the Lady Eagles a 21-point loss at Hill Field House and entered today's game in second-place in the league standings, only added extra motivation for Coppin State.
As the saying goes, when it comes to rivalry games, you can throw the records out the window. Coppin State's Amber Griffin, who did not play in the first meeting, scored a game-high 21 points and dished out a game-high seven assists to lead the host Lady Eagles to an 82-38 thumping of Morgan State at the Physical Education Complex Arena. It was the second largest defeat this season for Morgan State, which lost earlier in the season to James Madison by 61 points.
The 44-point victory is the largest ever for Coppin State over the Lady Bears and ranks third all-time in all-time series. Ironically, the other two largest margin of victory games were also played in February and were both won by Morgan State, as the Lady Bears defeated Coppin State behind a 46-point (76-30) victory on Feb. 15, 1986 and an 82-point (102-20) game on Feb. 13, 1977.
Janelle Lane finished with 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting and six rebounds, while Tanaysa Henderson came off the bench to score 12 points and grab six rebounds, for the Lady Eagles who never trailed in the game. Omaah Tayong shot 4-for-4 from the floor to finish with 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
Morgan State (12-15, 10-5 MEAC) was led by Braennan Farrar's 15 points. Farrar, who was held scoreless on 0-for-11 shooting in the last game against North Carolina A&T (2/22), shot 4-for-10 for the game, including three baskets from beyond the arc and scored Morgan State's first 11 points of the game. Ivy Harrington came off the bench to score six points and grabbed a team-high five rebounds and added two steals.
Coppin State (12-15, 9-6 MEAC), which avoided being swept by the Lady Bears for a second consecutive season, jumped out to a 16-3 lead after a layup and free throw by Griffin with 4:26 remaining in the first quarter. A layup by Tayong gave the hosts a 22-5 lead with 19 seconds remaining, before Farrar answered with a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 22-8 at the end of the first.
A layup from Lane with 3:22 left in the second quarter capped off a 19-3 run by the hosts to increase the lead to 41-11. Harrington scored on a layup at the 2:52 mark, to become the first Morgan player other than Farrar to score in the game. Farrar, who was 4-for-4 from the free throw line, connected on two free throws to close out the scoring, as Coppin State held a 48-17 lead at the break.
Coppin State used a 10-0 spurt midway through the third quarter to extend its cushion to 64-23 with 4:56 left in the quarter. The Lady Eagles would take their largest lead of the contest (46 points) when D'Ajahnae Smith hit a three-pointer with 1:10 left in the contest to give the hosts an 82-36 lead.
Coppin Stae forced 18 Morgan State turnovers and turned them into 27 points. The Lady Eagles also held a 21-9 advantage in second chance points and a 36-12 cushion in points in the paint.
Morgan State recorded just one assist for the game on 11 baskets, while Coppin State had 16 assists on 36 made baskets.
The Lady Eagles finished the contest shooting 56.3 percent (36-of-64), including 6-of-9 (66.7) from three-point range. Coppin State also recorded 14 steals in the game.
Morgan State shot 11-for-54 (20.4 percent) from the floor and was 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) from three-point range. The Lady Bears did connect on all 12 of their free throw attempts, marking the second time this season they shot 100 percent from the charity stripe.
The Lady Bears will close out the regular season next Thursday, March 3, when they host the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in the MEAC and home finale at Hill Field House. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. and will be Senior Night for Morgan State seniors Dinah Jones and Simone Sampson.
