NORFOLK, Va. – Junior guard
Deja Francis scored a career-high 32 points to help the Norfolk State women's basketball team remain unbeaten in the MEAC with a 71-60 victory over Coppin State on Saturday at Echols Hall.
Francis was 8-of-14 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from behind the arc, and converted 14-of-16 from the free-throw line to pace NSU (6-7, 2-0 MEAC), which was playing its first game in 12 days.
Camille Downs chipped in with 15 points against her former team, which suffered its first MEAC loss.
Coppin State (8-8, 2-1 MEAC) scored the game's first field goal, but never led again. The Spartans hit 10-of-15 from the floor in the first quarter and closed the period by scoring the final seven points, including a triple by
Janay Turner and layups by
Niya Fields and
Makoye Diawara to take a 24-15 lead.
Downs fueled an 8-0 run early in the second period with a 3-pointer, a driving layup and two foul shots to help the Spartans open up a 34-17 advantage. The Spartans, who shot 58 percent in the opening half, went into the intermission with a 42-26 lead.
NSU led by as many as 22 points in the second half, 50-28, after a corner 3-pointer by
Danaijah Williams at the 5:45 mark of the third quarter.
Francis helped NSU bring home the win by scoring 13 points in a fourth quarter that saw the teams shoot a combined 33 free throws. Francis hit 7-of-8 from the line in the final period and the Spartans were able to keep the Eagles at arm's length. CSU could not get close than eight in the final minutes.
NSU did the job defensively, holding the Eagles to 33 percent shooting on the night and forcing CSU into 23 turnovers. MEAC leading scorer Jaia Alexander scored 21 points for CSU, but the Spartans held guards Aliyah Lawson and Mossi Staples, two of the top 11 scorers in the conference in their own right, to a combined 12 points on 3-of-21 shooting.
The Spartans shot 45 percent from the floor, including 47 percent (7-of-15) from 3-point range. In addition to Francis and Downs in double figures, Williams had nine points and six rebounds.
Mahoganie Williams grabbed a team-best seven rebounds and blocked three shots, and Fields swiped five of the Spartans' 10 steals.
NSU returns to action on Monday at 4 p.m. against Morgan State at Echols Hall.
