NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State women's basketball team continued to struggle as they suffered a 56-51 loss to Coppin State on Saturday afternoon at Joseph Echols Hall.

Coppin State improved to 3-2 in the MEAC and 7-11 on the season while NSU fell to 0-5 in the conference and 2-14 overall.

The Spartans got on the board first with a layup by junior Rachel Gordon and a jumper by senior Recca Trice as they led Coppin State, 4-0, with 18:48 left in the first half.

Shawntae Payne's jumper with 9:26 remaining before halftime capped a 19-8 run by the Lady Eagles to give them a 19-12 lead over NSU.

The Spartans answered with a layup by senior Batavia Owens to cut Coppin State's lead to three with 7:02 left in the first half.

 From there the Kyra Coleman's layup with 3:02 left would cap an 11-3 run by the Lady Eagles as they held a 30-19 lead over NSU.

Junior Aivah Parham would score the Spartans last points of the first half with 32 second remaining to send NSU into halftime trailing Coppin State, 32-24.

Sophomore Ebony Brown nailed a 3-pointer with 19:43 left in regulation but NSU continue to trail, 32-27.

From there it was all Coppin State as Shawntae Payne drilled a 3-pointer from the corner with 13:59 to give the Lady Eagles their largest lead of the game as they continued to lead NSU, 44-31.

The Spartans went on a 10-5 run as sophomore Quineshia Leonard made a pair of free throws with 9:02 on the clock to make the score 49-41.

Leola Spotwood's layup with 3:15 left in the game gave Coppin State a 53-44 lead over NSU.

NSU continued to fight back but Parham's jumper with 22 seconds remaining in regulation would not be enough to take the lead.

The Spartans held the Lady Eagles to just 30.6 (19-of-62) percent shooting from the field. Two players scored in double-figures including Payne, who led all scorers with 18 points, and Spotwood tallied 11 points and eight rebounds.

NSU shot 36.7 (18-of-49) percent from the floor as Parham led the way with 12 points and six rebounds. Brown was the only other Spartan in double-figures. She finished the game with 11 points, which included three 3-pointers.

The Spartans return to action on Jan. 21 when they face Morgan State at 6 p.m. in Joseph Echols Hall.