by Keith Henry
Just when the situation couldn't get any worse for the Coppin State Lady Eagles, things went out of hand after the game. First, Coppin State's turnovers turned a 15-point second half advantage into a heartbreaking 75-74 loss to the North Carolina A&T Lady Aggies on a put back shot from Nikia Gorham with 2.2 seconds left.
After the game, both teams were going through the usual post game handshake line. But moments after that, a brawl broke out. The melee took place near the exit towards the Coppin State locker room. Punches were thrown, players were bloody. Coaches and officials from both teams got to the spot and started separating their young ladies, ordering them to their separate locker rooms. The brawl only lasted about three to four minutes before Coppin police stepped onto the court and order was restored.
At one point, Coppin State president Reginald Avery stepped onto the court with the microphone to order the crowd to settle down. At one point, Avery threatened to empty the gym for the men's game if order wasn't restored quickly. The only good thing from this is that the crowd didn't get involved in the fight.
Coppin State head coach Derek Brown and his staff plan to look at the tape to see who exactly was involved and what penalties will result from the brawl. The MEAC will probably have a say in the matter as far as suspensions are concerned for both teams as well.
Coach Brown and N.C. A&T head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs were shaking hands and talking to each other when the rumble took place. Coach Brown said, "I don't know how it happened, what happened. But I wouldn't expect it from our girls. But it happened and I can't say anymore about it."
Coach Bibbs said, "Well, when you come in and we always tell our kids to always have good sportsmanship.we were just telling everyone 'good game' and it just got out of hand."
As for the game, Coppin seemed to do everything right in the first 20 to 25 minutes of the game. But the Lady Eagles began to fall apart in the second half. Coach Brown said about the game, "We've won the whole game except for the last two minutes. It's as simple as that. We won for 38 minutes and we didn't execute fully coming down the stretch."
With 17:12 remaining and Coppin State comfortably ahead 50-35, N.C. A&T (9-9, 5-2 MEAC) quietly went to work on the defensive end forcing 16 of Coppin's 21 turnovers in the second half. Cage-Bibbs said about the turnaround, "We had to get down on our defense. that's when we told them that you got to go back out here and if you're gonna win this game, it has to be with your defense. we really played great defense. We had to go at every rebound. I don't know if we got them all, but we had to grab every rebound in order to have possession to get down and score."
Lady Aggie forward Jaleesa Sams, who led all scorers with 19 points, got her game going in driving to the hoop and picking pockets inside the paint as well with her game leading six steals. Sams scored 16 second half points in contributing to the final result.
A&T got within 71-68 until Leola Spotwood drove to the hoop and converted a tough lay-up while she was fouled with 3:03 remaining. Spotwood converted the free throw to extend the Coppin State advantage to 74-68.
But that was the last point Coppin State (6-12, 3-4 MEAC) scored in the game as the Lady Aggies got it going again. Sams stole the ball from Shawntae Payne leading to a lay-up from Sams. Then Gorham converted one of two free throws with 53 seconds left. After that, Lillian Bullock stole the ball from Coppin point guard Ashley Craig which led to two good free throws from Gorham to draw the Lady Aggies within 74-73 with 32 seconds left.
Coach Brown said about that moment, "Well, they got a steal from Ashley when she wasn't looking up and (Bullock) just took the ball from her."
After that, Coppin had the possession and a chance to milk the clock. But Payne started driving to the hoop with 12 seconds left and Sams stripped the ball from Payne in the paint which led to a quick run down the court. Sams missed her lay-up attempt. Gorham collected the offensive rebound, then missed her lay-up. But Gorham got the rebound again and converted her shot off the backboard with 2.2 seconds left. Craig got the ball off the inbounds and heaved a shot from nearly three-quarters of the court and was apparently fouled at the buzzer. But the referees ruled against that and the game was over.
Gorham said about the winning basket, "I fought for the lay-up. I knew I had to go back up (with the shot)without traveling or anything. But I was going up there playing with heart."
Coach Brown said about that possession, "Shawntae made a play at the basket where she probably should've just held the ball a little bit more. We could've taken the (clock) down to three seconds and she shot the ball a little prematurely with about seven to eight seconds left to go. they went the length of the floor and i'm looking at our kids. I see their kids down there rebounding the basketball and our kids just standing still because nobody got down there to get the ball."
Coach Bibbs said about that stretch, "We had to have defense on that point guard. They were setting good screens in the middle of the floor. We told our point guard to make sure she worked around that. She worked around it and we win. We're happy for this victory. I thank God for this victory because we came from behind. But that shows the resilience of our players. They're growing and it's great. (We're) peeking hopefully at the right time."
Larissa Carter led Coppin with 14 points and 12 rebounds on the afternoon.
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