Deidra Jones? scored a game-high 21 points to lead four players in double figures as Florida A&M defeated? Coppin State, 64-43? in the quarterfinal round? of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference women’s tournament at the Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum.? The Lady Rattlers (13-16), the Number 7 seed, advances to Friday’s semifinal round against the winner of the Delaware State-Hampton quarterfinal matchup.
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Florida A&M, which had advanced to the game following a win over South Carolina State in the opening round on Tuesday, went toe to toe with the defending tournament champion Lady Eagles.? Jones made sure that her team stayed close, scoring eight points and providing leadership as the Lady Rattlers trailed only 24-20 at the half.
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Florida A&M used a 13-4 at the start of the second half to take control and break the game open.? Jones was especially effective with her scoring and court generalship.? Antonia Bennet, Qiana Donald and Stephanie Foster took turns scoring in the balanced attack.
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“We played very smart down the stretch and really used the clock to our advantage,” said FAMU first year head LaDawn Gibson.? “Deidra Jones did a great job of running things and we just wanted to get the ball in her hands.”
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She continued, “In the first half, we could just never got over the hump. We would get within four points, but could never take the lead.? We told them at halftime to just keep playing our game. When we did take the lead, it seemed to really energize the team.”
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Coppin State, which boasts the biggest frontcourt in the conference, was rendered ineffective as the Lady Rattlers forced them to take the short perimeter shots.? Whitney Cunningham, The Lady Eagles’ 6-3 center and a first team All-MEAC selection, came into the game averaging almost a double-double, was limited to one point and two rebounds.
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“We would tell our team what to do and they wouldn’t do it,” explained Coppin State Coach Derek Brown.?? “We just didn’t play basic defense. This was kind of a microcosm of our season. They put the clamps on Whitney (Cunningham) and without Whitney we kind of fizzled a little bit. I told the team it was going to come down to us playing man-to-man defense and we just didn’t step up and play good defense.”
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With Coppin State not being able to score, Florida A&M got everyone into the act as the Lady Rattlers? bench outscored their counterparts, 32-6.
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Danielle Anders led Coppin State with 17 points and Sesalie Johnson contributed 10 in a losing cause.? The Lady Eagles had not lost a quarterfinal round game since the 2002-03 season.
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GAME NOTES:? Coppin State won both games during the regular season, 54-50 in Tallahassee, FL and 57-45 in Baltimore, MD...FAMU is 3-0 against Coppin State in MEAC Tournament play...the series between the two schools is now tied at? 18-18.