Morgan State cleans up rival Coppin State, 61-46

Kevin C. Paige, MSU Athletics Communications

61

 Morgan St. 9-6,2-0 MEAC

46

Coppin St. 4-13,1-1 MEAC

BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 14, 2023)-Charlene Shepherd knocked down 11 of Morgan State’s 24 baskets to score a game-high 27 points and had eight rebounds, while Sunshine McCrae added 12 points and seven rebounds, as visiting Morgan State defeated crosstown rival Coppin State, 61-54 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) contest at the Physical Education Complex.

Taylor Addison pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to go with six points and a team-high two blocks and Sedayjha Paynerecorded seven rebounds and six points, to help Morgan State improve to 46-43 all-time against the Eagles. The win was the Lady Bears 11^th in the last 12 meetings against Coppin State.
 
Morgan State (9-6, 2-0 MEAC) from the start of the season has taken pride in wearing down its opponents and making teams seemingly quit by the fourth quarter. Entering today’s road contest against Coppin State, the Lady Bears had outscored their opponents by 75 points (241-166) in the fourth quarter and held six of their opponents under 10 points in the final period.
 
Saturday afternoon would be pretty much the same, as Coppin State became the seventh victim this season to score less than 10 points in the fourth quarter against Morgan State. The visiting Lady Bears would force Coppin State into an opponent-high this season 30 turnovers, which Morgan turned into 27 points. 21 of those turnovers were steals, as McCrae and Addison each totaled a game-high five steals. Payne and Shepherd each had four thefts for the Lady Bears.
 
Coppin State (4-13, 1-1 MEAC), got a layup from Alexandria Hamilton to even the score at 43 with 7:44 left in the fourth quarter. The Lady Bears would go on a 15-0 run over a four-minute span to push their lead to 58-43. Staples ended the Morgan run with a three-pointer at the top of the key with 2:59 left in the game for the Eagles’ final points of the game.
 
Coppin State, which led by as much as seven points (10-3), held a 21-16 lead, following a 7-0 run with 3:21 remaining in the second quarter. Morgan State countered with four straight points in the midst of an 8-2 run to close out the quarter and even the score at 24-24 at the intermission.
 
The Eagles were paced by Jewel Watkins, who finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and a game-high four blocked shots. Mossi Staples added 12 points and Nadjy Amira came off the bench to score 10. Alexandria Hamilton and Colleen Bucknor each grabbed eight rebounds to tie teammate Watkins for the team high.
 
There were eight lead chances and 12 ties in the game, including tied scores of 12, 24 and 41 after each of the first three quarters. Morgan State held advantages over the Eagles in points in the paint (38-20), second chance points (11-2) and fast breaks (27-6).
 
Next up for the Lady Bears will be a trip to the Nation’s Capital on Saturday, Jan. 21 to take on defending MEAC Tournament champion Howard. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. at Burr Gymnasium in Washington, D.C. The Bison () were dealt a 64-37 loss on Saturday at Norfolk State.

Next Game:
at Howard
1/21/2023 | 2 p.m.
HSRN

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