Jan. 26, 2005

Box Score

PRINCESS ANNE, MD - Freshman Kristi Veltkamp's (Lansing, Mich./Lansing Home School) game-high 17 points was not enough as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore fell to Coppin State University, 77-51 on Monday evening. Behind solid shooting from the field and the free-throw line, the Lady Eagles proved why they own the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's best overall record.

Coppin State shot 46% from the field compared to UMES' 29%. The Lady Eagles also out shot the Lady Hawks from the free throw line as Coppin State converted 22 of their 26 free throw attempts, while UMES converted 12 of their 18 attempts.

In the first half the Lady Hawks (5-11, 4-4) jumped out to an early 6-0 lead on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor. However, Coppin State (12-5, 7-1) regrouped out of a timeout and went on a 11-0 run to regain the lead, which they would never relinquish.

Junior Toni Kennedy (Baltimore, Md./Grayson County College) ended the run with a clutch three-point shot from the top of the key as she and Veltkamp scored nine of the Lady Hawks first 13 points.

With a 17-13 advantage, the Lady Eagles began a 20-4 run behind five straight possessions in which they scored three points, either by a shot from beyond the arc or by a bucket and a foul. The run was capped by eight straight points from Rashida Suber to push Coppin State's lead to 20 points.

At halftime the Lady Hawks continued to trail by 20 at 43-23, but in the second half a tough defensive stand allowed UMES to close the gap. The maroon and gray held the Lady Eagles scoreless over the first 3:27 as they went on a 5-0 run to start the half.

However like the first half, the Lady Eagles responded to Maryland Eastern Shore's quick start with a 12-2 run of their own to build their largest lead of the evening.

Trailing 55-30, Veltkamp remained perfect from beyond the arc on the season as she hit her fourth three-pointer of the season to begin a 11-4 run for UMES, which was capped by sophomore Ashley Chase's (Baltimore, Md./Paul Lawrence Dunbar)three-point play.

But it was too little too late for the Lady Hawks, as Coppin State closed out the last five minutes of the half from the free-throw line as they scored eight of their final 10 points from the charity stripe.

Veltkamp led UMES in scoring, netting 17 points to go along with three rebounds and two blocks. Kennedy added eight points and four assists in the loss. Sherrie Tucker and Rashida Suber scored 14 apiece to lead the Lady Eagles. The Lady Hawks will play at North Carolina A&T in their next game, facing the Lady Aggies on January 29 at 2:00pm.