By: Aaron Robinson
As of February 8, 2020 there were two teams in women’s college division one basketball that had yet to win a game against a division one opponent on the season. The two teams were the University of Hartford and Coppin State University.
Well, as of today, not only has Coppin State eliminated itself from that list, but it has won three of it’s last 4 games. Before losing this past Saturday, the team had compiled a three game win streak, it’s longest since the 2017-2018 season where it also strung together a trio of consecutive victories.
Coppin State won its first game of the season over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in dramatic fashion on February 8. Jalynda Salley scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds including the game winning put back layup to lead the Lady Eagles to a 66-63 victory, ending their 22 game winless streak on the season.
Coppin State then hit the road for a two game trip to Orangeburg, South Carolina and Norfolk, Virginia where they took on South Carolina State and Norfolk State respectively, two teams who had already come to Baltimore and beaten them.
“We felt like we owed both of them one because of what happened the last time we played them” redshirt sophomore point guard Aliya Lawson said.
Coppin State defeated South Carolina State pretty handedly, leading for almost the entirety of the game and going on to win 61-42.
Coppin State then faced Norfolk State (9-1), who had beaten the Lady Eagles by 37 points in January.
But what occurred on that Monday night was a far cry from what occurred in the January meeting.
The Lady Eagles, for the second consecutive game, got ahead early and never looked back. Coppin led by as many as 18 points, and eventually held on for a 57-55 victory.
“That win was big for us. We already felt like we could play with anybody, but to go out there and win at their place really proved it to us” Senior forward Chance Graham stated.
Graham had huge games against both Norfolk State and South Carolina State, earning her MEAC co - player of the week honors. The senior forward averaged 21.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in the two road wins, capping it off with a 22 point, 14 rebound effort in the Monday night victory over Norfolk State.
“I know that when I can go out and score 20 plus points and get 10 plus rebounds it gives our team the best chance to win” Graham stated.
But Graham is not the only Lady Eagle to raise her game as of late. Sophomore point guard Aliya Lawson chipped in with 16 points and 5 assists in the win over Norfolk State, hitting free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
“I just try to take care of the ball and take good shots” Lawson said. “We have been trying to be better with our shot selection recently so that’s something I have been focusing on.”
Shot selection has been the driving force in what has been an offensive resurgence over the last four games for the Coppin State Lady Eagles. The squad is averaging over 62 points per game over it’s last four games, up from the 49.2 points per game that it was averaging in it’s 10 previous conference games.
“We feel like if we can score between 60 and 65 points, we will give ourselves a chance every game” head coach DeWayne Burroughs said. “We’ve been trying to get the kids to understand that we can do this all year. But it takes a total team effort”
The Lady Eagles put up 65 points in a seven point home loss to Delaware State, who is currently 8-5 in the MEAC, good for fifth place. It was the offense that gave them a fighting chance in this Saturday's loss and it has been the main ingredient that has either won them games or lost them thus far this season.
In a loss to North Carolina Central on February 8, Coppin State shot an astounding 12-59 from the floor, good for 20 percent, which was it’s lowest total on the season. This came in a game that they trailed by just 5 points with under nine minutes remaining and seven points with just under four minutes remaining.
On the flip side, in their last four games, the Lady Eagles have shot a combined 50.4 percent from the floor. This is a whopping 20 percent increase from the 30.4 percent that they were shooting in the 10 previous MEAC conference games.
The Lady Eagles aren't just outscoring opponents either. They have also been a pretty stingy defense as of late, only giving up 58 points per night to their opponents. This is down from the 68.7 points per game that they were giving up to conference opponents coming into their game against Maryland Eastern Shore.
“We’ve just been playing harder at that end. I think we just want it more and it's been showing, especially on defense” Lawson said.
“It's been the buy in.” Burroughs stated. “We had a meeting after the North Carolina Central game and since then the girls have really been bought into what we have been preaching” He continued.
In college basketball, it's everyone's goal to be playing your best basketball come March. This rings even more true for one-bid leagues such as the MEAC. Coach DeWayne Burroughs seems to have his team trending in the right direction during the most important stretch of the season.
“I am really excited to see how we finish these next few games. I like the way we have been playing, and if we can keep it up, I think we can surprise some people” Burroughs stated.
The Lady Eagles have two games remaining on their regular season schedule. They square off against rival, Morgan State this Saturday before finishing off the regular season against Maryland Eastern Shore next Thursday March 4. The MEAC tournament is scheduled for March 9 through 14 in Norfolk, Virginia.