BALTIMORE, Md. – On a night when the Norfolk State women's basketball struggled mightily on the offensive end, senior guard Jordan Strode's 21 points helped the Spartans awake just in time to escape with a 49-45 win over Coppin State on Monday night at the Physical Education Complex.
 
The win was just the third for the Spartans (10-8, 5-1 MEAC) in their last five 25 tries against Coppin State (3-15, 3-3). It came on a night when the Spartans shot just 32.7 percent from the floor, yet held the Lady Eagles to a 24.2 percent clip.
 
With the score tied at just 18 apiece at the half, Coppin State started the second half on a 14-4 run. CSU guard Keena Samuels capped the run with a layup with 6:18 left in the third quarter to give the Lady Eagles their largest lead of the night, 32-22.
 
But the Spartans went on a run of their own, outscoring Coppin State 15-4 the rest of the quarter. Alexys Long had eight of her nine points in the run and Strode connected on a 12-foot jumper with 20 seconds left in the period to give the Spartans their first lead of the half, at 37-36.
 
The Spartans would not relinquish the lead the rest of the way. Strode scored nine of her points in the fourth quarter alone, including a pair of big 3-pointers. Her triple from the left corner with 2:25 remaining in regulation gave NSU a 47-41 advantage. She was 8-of-17 from the floor, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range.
 
Chance Graham cut the CSU deficit to two, 47-45, on a layup with 36 seconds left. The Spartans committed a turnover on the other end, but Samuels missed a layup with 17 seconds left. Strode hit 1-of-2 from the line to stretch the lead to three. Samuels' attempt at a game-tying 3-pointer with three seconds left to play missed, and Kayla Roberts hit 1-of-2 from the line to salt away the victory for NSU.
 
Both teams came out flat in the first half and went a combined 13-of-55 (23.6 percent) from the floor. Coppin State was 6-of-25, while the Spartans shot 7-of-30. Norfolk State held a 13-6 lead after one quarter, but the Lady Eagles flipped the script in the second by outscoring the Spartans 12-5 in the period to send the game into the locker room tied at 18-all.
 
Roberts recorded her ninth double-double of the season and third in a row with 12 points and 10 rebounds. She also blocked three shots. Long registered a career-high four blocks, including two on fast breaks by CSU, as the Spartans finished with 10 rejections as a team. Long, a Maryland native who scored a career-best 10 points Saturday against Hampton, finished with nine points and was 3-of-4 from the floor in her home state Monday.
 
The Spartans outrebounded the Lady Eagles 48-40. In addition to Roberts, Khalilah Ali and De'Janaire Deas had six boards apiece. NSU did commit 21 turnovers, leading to 19 points for Coppin State. Norfolk State netted 12 points off of 15 Lady Eagle miscues.
 
Tiara Goode led Coppin State with nine points and Graham grabbed 10 rebounds. But NSU, the top field-goal percentage defense in the conference, held CSU's two leading scorers - guards Genesis Lucas and Samuels - to a combined 11 points on 3-of-32 shooting.

Norfolk State returns to Echols Hall for a two-game homestand, beginning with a matchup against preseason MEAC favorite Bethune-Cookman on Saturday at 4 p.m.