Coppin State women’s basketball to open 2014-15 at N.C. State

BALTIMORE – The Coppin State women’s basketball team will open its 2014-15 season at North Carolina State on Sunday, November 16 at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh.

This will be the first meeting in program history against N.C. State and second straight season the Eagles will begin the season against an Atlantic Coast Conference school.

The Eagles return seven players from last season’s team that won 17 games and advanced to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship game.

The returnees include senior forward Bria Harris and juniors Janelle Lane, Jordan Swails, Tanaysa Henderson and Omaah Tayong and Amber Griffin along with sophomore Keena Samuels. They all made meaningful contributions to last year’s success and will be counted on to help Coppin State continue its winning ways. The Eagles have posted three straight winning records.

Harris averaged 5.2 points and 3.7 rebounds last season. She scored in double figures five times. Harris tallied a season-high 12 points twice against Virginia Union and Florida A&M. Griffin led the Eagles in assists with 138 while averaging 5.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. She also led the MEAC in assist to turnover ratio (1.7) and was fourth in the MEAC in assists per game (4.6).

Tayong led the team with 33 blocked shots and was seventh in the MEAC in blocked shots per game (1.1). She made her first collegiate start memorable by notching her first career double-double of 10 points and a career-high 23 rebounds in a 68-53 victory over Savannah State. Lane averaged 5.8 points and 4.6 rebounds while making 50 percent of her shots (75-for-150) on the season. Lane started 10 of CSU’s final 11 games.

Swails was fourth on the team with 34 assists. She scored a career high 16 points in a win over Delaware State. In a win over North Carolina A&T in the MEAC semifinals, Swails scored eight points in 13 minutes to help the Eagles rally from an 11-point second half deficit.

Henderson averaged 2.8 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while Samuels contributed 1.9 points and 1.2 rebounds per game. Newcomers Genesis Lucas, Oluwaseun Adeniji, Candice Beverly, and D’ajahnae Smith are expected to make immediate impacts as well for the Eagles.

Meanwhile, N.C. State enjoyed a strong 2013-14 season, posting an overall record of 25-8 which included an 11-5 mark in ACC play. The Wolfpack participated in the NCAA tournament for the 22nd time in program history before seeing their season come to an end in the opening round to BYU in Los Angeles.

N.C. State's first season under new head coach Wes Moore was a resounding success. The Wolfpack enjoyed a top-20 RPI rating, finished fourth in the ACC despite being picked 10th and spent 10 straight weeks in the AP and USA Today top-25 polls. N.C. State’s top returners are senior forward Len’Nique Brown and sophomore guard Miah Spencer, who each averaged over eight points per game.

Overall, Coppin State’s 11-game non-conference schedule features opponents from the Big 12, Big 10, ACC, Atlantic-10, SEC, America East, and NEC. This will be the second straight season, Coppin State will open the year at a ACC opponent. The Eagles started last year’s season at Georgia Tech.

The remainder of the schedule along with a huge home date against one of women’s basketball’s elite programs will be released at a later date.