Box Score Postgame Presser | Postgame Wrap-Up with Coach Vickers

NORFOLK, Va. – Amber Griffin scored 19 points to lead four Coppin State players in double figures, and the fourth-seeded Lady Eagles shot 58.5 percent from the floor in a 78-54 win over No. 13 Norfolk State in the first round of the 2016 MEAC tournament on Monday morning at Scope Arena.

CSU (14-15), which advances to face No. 5 seed Morgan State in a Thursday quarterfinal, outscored the Spartans (3-24) 20-6 in the fourth quarter to pull away.

NSU jumped out to an early 8-3 lead to start the game after Koryn Lawrence banked in a 30-foot 3-pointer as the shot-clock buzzer expired at the 7:08 mark of the first quarter. But Griffin hit a jumper and then a 3-pointer to start an 11-2 CSU run. The Lady Eagles hit 10-of-16 (62.5 percent) from the floor in the first quarter to hold a 22-16 edge after one stanza.

NSU trailed by at least six points for the whole second quarter and found itself behind, 36-27, at the half. But the Spartans made their move in the third quarter thanks to an 8-of-13 shooting effort in the period. Trailing 47-35, freshman Alexys Long hit three straight jumpers to cut NSU's deficit in half, to 47-41. Junior Kiara Phillips also hit two 3-pointers from the left wing to keep NSU within striking distance in the quarter.

But the fourth quarter was all Coppin State. The Lady Eagles outscored NSU 13-2 to start the period, with Genesis Lucas hitting a 3-pointer and Griffin a pair of jumpers in the spurt. The last of those field goals extended the CSU lead to 71-50, and the Lady Eagles pulled away from there. CSU held NSU to just 3-of-15 shooting (20 percent) in the final quarter and 34.5 percent (20-of-53) for the game.

Phillips scored a team-high 15 points for the Spartans, hitting 5-of-11 from the floor and 3-of-7 from 3-point range. Kayla Roberts added 13 points and two blocks, and Lawrence had 10 points, five assists and three steals. Long and Siobhan Beslow scored seven points apiece. Beslow, along with guard Brehanna Daniels, were playing their final collegiate game for the Spartans.

Lucas added 15 points, Keena Samuels scored 13 and Tanaysa Henderson 11 for CSU, which hit 31 of its 53 field-goal attempts. The Lady Eagles made 15-of-24 (62.5 percent) in the second half.