BALTIMORE — Wins are at a premium with just a couple weeks left in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season. For the Coppin State University women’s basketball team, Saturday's game gets no bigger.
The Eagles (9-14, 6-3) host the conference’s top team, Norfolk State. The Spartans (19-5, 8-1) sit atop the league standings while Coppin is only two games behind. Second-year head coach Jermaine Woods has his team playing good ball as we head down the stretch.
Junior forward Laila Lawrence is leading the way. She paces the Eagles with 14.2 points per game, which is good for second in the MEAC. She leads the conference with 9.9 rebounds per game.
Last weekend she pulled down an NCAA season-high 25 boards in a win over Delaware State. Lawrence has also been named MEAC Defensive Player of the Week for three consecutive weeks.
She knows her team will need another monster game from her on Saturday.
"Recently I’ve been getting double-teamed. So, I have just got to continue to find my open teammates whenever they come to double-team me and we continue to just make shots and hopefully we come out on top and catch the win," she said.
"Our main goal coming into conference play was to be No. 1, be the regular season champions, and I think we still have a shot," said guard Mossi Staples. "So, [Saturday's] game, it’s just going to put us closer to our goal."
"It’s huge. I’m not scared of that. I’m not trying to hide it from our team. I’m not trying to hide it from the coaching staff. I’m not trying to hide it from you. It’s a huge opportunity," said Woods.
Norfolk State comes in with the MEAC’s leading scorer, Kierra Wheeler, who drops an average of 17.9 points per game.
These two teams played just four weeks ago in Virginia. Norfolk State won that one 61-53.
Regarding Saturday's contest Lawrence said: "We’re not going to let nobody sweep us in the conference".
Tip-off Saturday at Coppin's PEC Arena is set for 2:00 p.m.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
