Second half run pushes Coppin women past UMES

Senior Alexandria Hamilton going for the lay-up in Coppin's 56-45 win over UMES. Picture by Keith Henry

 

By Keith Henry 

Three seniors were honored this afternoon in Mossi Staples, Nadjy Amira and Alexandria Hamilton for Senior Day. The defense and rebounding shined through for the Coppin State Lady Eagles in their 56-45 win over UMES at the PEC.

These teams played each other twice in a span of three days because they had to make up a game due to COVID restrictions on the Coppin State side. When asked the differences between those games, UMES head coach Fred Batchelor stated, “Making shots was huge. I thought it was all even. Then (Coppin) broke away by making some huge plays down the stretch. It was a similar game that we had down there (in a 65-52 win in Princess Anne) except we shot the ball a little bit better.”

Coppin State head coach Jermaine Woods said, “We thought that we were better in Princess Anne. We were just tired. They had a lot of hype. They were doing all the talking in Princess Anne. We just got on the bus and laughed it off. We just came off of two grueling games defensively. And we were just like OK, whatever. And we knew today was coming into play. So we were ready and prepared for today.”

A pair of Lady Eagles recorded double-doubles in the effort. Jewel Watkins led the Lady Eagles with 19 points and 12 rebounds while Colleen Bucknor scored 11 points and led all with 14 rebounds.

Coppin State (7-20, 4-8 MEAC) overcame an early 9-2 deficit to tie the game up at 25 on a step back three from Watkins with 25 seconds left. That would be the score at halftime.

UMES (8-18, 4-8 MEAC) opened the third quarter on a 10-4 run capped by a driving lay-up from Mya Thomas with 2:51 left. That gave the Lady Hawks a 35-29 advantage.

However, Coppin mounted a monstrous 27-10 response to end the game starting on the defensive end. The Lady Eagles did not allow a field goal for nearly 12 minutes after the Thomas conversion. In fact, they limited the Lady Hawks to just two field goals the rest of the game. Also, UMES never converted a three-pointer in the game, though they attempted 10 of them.

Coach Woods said about the defense, “We’ve been working on defense a lot and I’m so proud of their defensive effort for sure.”

Hamilton added, “it was more so about us locking in, and getting our (groove) back. We had to do what we had to do and be more aggressive in attacking the boards, the offense and defense.”

During the run, the Lady Eagles took the lead for good at 40-37 when Staples found Watkins again, who hit another three pointer with 7:08 left in the game.

Coppin would stretch the margin to as much as 15 at 55-40 on another long range three from Watkins with 1:16 remaining.

The Lady Hawks finally converted a field goal after that on a Thomas floater with 1:05 left. However, the game was decided at that point.

Watkins, Bucknor and Hamilton combined for 36 of the Lady Eagles’ 55 rebounds in the game. Their effort nearly equaled UMES mark at 38. For the Lady Hawks, Zamara Haynes led them with 18 points on the afternoon.

Coppin hits the road for their final two games of the regular season. They travel to Delaware State on Monday night and then to crosstown rival Morgan State on Thursday.