Jan. 23, 2010

Box Score | Photo Gallery

BALTIMORE, Md. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore women's basketball team erased 13-point halftime deficit on its way to a 55-53 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference win over Coppin State at the Physical Education Complex Saturday.

UMES trailed 37-24 heading into the second half and outscored the Lady Eagles, 31-16, to pick up its fourth win in five games, improving to 6-8 overall and 4-1in conference play. CSU fell to 6-10 and 2-3 in the MEAC.

Freshman Chelsea Sanders (Rochester, N.Y.) and junior Casey Morton (Mardela Springs, Md.) each had 13 points to lead UMES in scoring. Chena Parker (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) and April McBride (New Rochelle, N.Y.) had 12 and 11 points, respectively, to round out the Lady Hawks four starters in double figures. Sanders grabbed team-high nine rebounds while McBride had eight.

Down, 39-26, with 18:30 remaining, UMES ran off nine straight points to cut the margin to four at 39-35. The run began with a McBride 3-pointer off an assist by Morton and it finished with consecutive layups from Morton, the last of which was the result of a steal at midcourt.

Coppin quickly regained a comfortable lead at 47-35 with just over 10 minutes left when Sesalie Johnson hit a jumper, but the UMES bounced back with a 12-0 run to knot the game at 47 with 5:05 remaining. Parker had half of UMES' points in the stretch. She started the spurt with a three and pulled the Lady Hawks even with an old-fashioned 3-point play.

Amber Cook (Greensboro, N.C.) later gave UMES its first lead since 6-4 in the first half with a pair of clutch free throws at the 3:27 mark to put the visitors up, 51-49.

Coppin State made one final push, cutting the lead to 55-53 and had two possessions in the final seconds to steal the game but Johnson couldn't convert on a layup and Chanelle Downing missed a three with one tick left.

Jeanine Manley, who posted a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, paced the Lady Eagles. Downing was the only other CSU player in double digits with 13. She also chipped in with six boards.

Coppin State was 38.9 percent from the floor (21-of-54) for the game while UMES shot a combined 32.1 percent (17-for-53). The Lady Eagles turned the ball over 21 times resulting 14 UMES points while the Lady Hawks committed 18 miscues for 18 Coppin points.

UMES was outrebounded, 41-32, on the day.

The Lady Hawks scored the game's first four points on a pair of free throws by McBride and a jumper from Sanders. That was the biggest lead UMES held in the half, though, as Coppin took a 9-8 advantage on a Lakeytah Irving bucket with 14:42 to play.

The Lady Eagles lead grew to as many as 16 at 28-12 on a Manley basket with 5:59 left before the half. Coppin took a 37-24 advantage into the locker room. Manley led the hosts with 13 points and seven rebounds in the half while Sanders had 12 for UMES.

UMES is back in Baltimore on Monday at 5:30 to play Morgan State.