BALTIMORE, Md. (Feb. 2, 2021)-The Morgan State women's basketball team wrapped up the first half of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division slate with a 72-43 thumping of crosstown rival Coppin State on Tuesday evening at the Physical Education Complex Arena.
 
The victory completed a prolonged two-game series sweep of Coppin State. The game was originally scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 31 and was postponed due to the winter storm that hit the area. Morgan State has now won seven straight and eight of the last nine over the Eagles to even the all-time series at 42-42.
 
The Lady Bears improved to 8-2 overall and 5-1 in the MEAC North, while Coppin State fell to 1-7, 1-5 MEAC North.
 
Ja'Niah Henson scored a game-high 12 points, to lead three Morgan State players in double figures scoring on a night where 12 of Morgan's 13 players got in the score column. Elaija Demeza scored 11 points and Ashia McCalla finished with 10, as the Lady Bears extended their season-long winning streak to five straight.
 
Morgan State, which led from start to finish, jumped out to a 13-2 lead and never looked back. Coppin State got within 18-8, but that was as close as the hosts would get. The Lady Bears closed out the first quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 26-8 lead after just one quarter of play.
 
The Lady Bears would shoot 56 percent (10-of-18) in the first period. Morgan State finished the game shooting 38.8 percent, connecting on 26-of-67 and shot 47 percent (8-of-17) from three-point range.
 
Morgan State, which held a 42-21 lead at the intermission, used a 16-6 run in the third period, capped by back-to-back three-pointer by Maiya Bumbray to give the guests a 62-35 lead late in the third quarter. The Lady Bears scored 20 points and would shoot 57 percent (4-of-7) from beyond the arc in the third period.
 
The Lady Bears used a 7-0 run to take its largest lead of the contest at 72-38 (34 points) with 2:38 remaining in the game when Nina Carpenter hit a free throw to complete a three-point play.
 
After forcing 23 turnovers on Saturday, the Lady Bears then forced an additional 28 turnovers by Coppin State, 18 of those came by way of steals. Adia Brisker came off the bench to record a game-high four steals and Takara Ware had three steals in a reserve role. An additional four Lady Bears collected at least two steals. The Lady Bears scored 32 points off Coppin's turnovers.
 
After giving up a career-high 27 points and a game-high 12 rebounds to Coppin State's Aliyah Lawson in Saturday's contest, Morgan State held Lawson to a team-high 11 points and a rebound on Tuesday. Alexandria Hamilton added nine points and Jalynda Salley pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds for the Eagles.
 
Coppin State finished the evening shooting 31 percent (15-of-48) from the floor and 38 percent (6-of-16) from three-point range. The Eagles also shot 50 percent (7-of-14) from the free throw line.
 
Morgan State begins the second half of the MEAC schedule this weekend when it visits the Nation's Capital to square off against Beltway rival Howard for a two-game series (Feb. 6-7). Both games will tip-off at 2 p.m. at Burr Gymnasium.
 
The Bison (8-2, 4-1 MEAC North) will enter the contest a game behind Morgan State in the win column in league play. Howard, which is riding a three-game winning streak, is a perfect 6-0 at home this season. The Bison last played on Saturday, Jan. 30 and defeated Delaware State, 71-60 in the series opener. Game 2 was postponed due to the previously mentioned storm.
 
The two teams split their MEAC series opener in Baltimore (Jan. 2-3) with the Bison winning the opener, 73-48 and Morgan State claiming Game 2 by a score of 71-58. Howard leads the all-time series, 53-22.