Rashida Suber dribbled three quarters of the length of the court through a maze of defenders and scored on an underhand scoop shot with 3.8 seconds remaining to lift Coppin State to 72-70 win over North Carolina A&T in the MEAC women’s championship at the RBC Center.
The win gives the Lady Eagles (22-11) the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. The pairings will be announced on Monday.
“As soon as I got the ball, I glanced at the clock and knew I had to make a play and make it quick,” said Suber, a senior guard from Reading, PA. “And when no one came to try to get a block, I just put it up and it went in.”
“It was a great shot. She was being defended, but to take the ball from half court and get to the basket and scoop it in, was a great play,” added Coppin State Coach Derek Brown.
The game featured the Lady Aggies (25-7), the Number 1 seed and regular season champions and Coppin State, the Number 2 seed and 2006-07 regular season champs. It was the upstart NC A&T, which has established itself among the elite in the conference and the Lady Eagles, who have won three of the past four regular season and tournament titles.
The first half in which North Carolina A&T assumed control, 32-25 on the strength of its deeper bench, would serve as merely an appetizer what was on the menu for the second half. The two teams battled it out, with neither able to gain and advantage.
“We probably played one of the worst halves of the season,” said CSU Coach Derek Brown, in his eighth season at the helm. “But, as badly as we played, with 18 turnovers, we were still down by only seven. So I told the team at the half that if we play our game in the second half, we should be fine.”
There were 10 ties in the game and seven lead changes, with the biggest lead being nine by NC A&T to start the second half.
That is when Coppin State made its move with a 27-15 run during a 9:07 period that gave them their first lead at 52-49. Much of the offense was supplied by Suber, who scored 13 of her 19 after intermission and Anders, who tallied 14 of her 18 in the second half. At one point, Anders accounted for 10 of her team’s points during a three-minute stretch when the lead went back and forth.
“Our game plan was to tire them out with our rotation,” explained NC A&T head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs, who was named the MEAC Coach of the Year after leading her team to a school record number of victories. “It was to our advantage to press them because they didn’t have the number of players that we had.”
She continued, “But experience was the difference. They had the experience. In the first half, they didn’t handle the pressure well and had 18 turnovers. But they have a great program and will represent the conference well.”
It then came down to the last four possessions. Two free throws by Coppin State center Whitney Cunningham gave her team a 69-65 lead with 52 seconds remaining. Tyronnica Alford answered for the Lady Aggies 7 seconds later to narrow the deficit to 69-67.
Oakley made on of two free throws to make the score, 70-67 with 36 seconds on the clock. But the resilient Lady Aggies got a big three-point shot from first team All-MEAC selection Amber Bland with 25 seconds to tie the game at 70.
Coppin State nearly turned the ball over on its ensuing possession and was forced to call a timeout with 22 ticks on the clock. Following, the Lady Eagles had problems with NC A&T’s fullcourt pressure and almost turned the ball over. Suber then made the play of the game.
“After tying the game, I felt pretty good about things, but Suber made a great play for them,” said Coach Cage-Bibbs.
Coppin State called a quick timeout to set up a potential game-tying or game-winning shot. They got a shot off but it never touched the rim, sending Coppin State to the Big Dance.
North Carolina A&T has relied heavily upon its key players, Bland (10 points, 5 under her average), Brittany Taylor-James (9 points) and Ta”Wuana Cook (10 points), but it got some unexpected production from Lamona Smalley, who led her team 18, Tyronnica Alford and Jalessa Sams, who came off the bench to each score 9 points.
Smalley was the most effective scorer for the Lady Aggies but when she fouled out late in the game, it proved to be a factor in the outcome.
“Losing Ramona was big for us,” said Coach Cage-Bibbs. “She played a terrific game. She is very tough and they had trouble matching up with her, so not having her in the game at the end was tough.”
Suber, who was named to the all-tournament team, led all scorers with 19, Anders with 18, Oakley with 14, 7 rebounds and 9 assists and Whitney Cunningham, who turned in the best game of her career with 15 points, 16 rebounds.
GAME NOTES: Suber was named to the all tournament team along with Rachel Butler of Hampton, Lamona Smalley of NC A&T and Phylicia Jones of Morgan State while Oakley earned tournament MVP to go along with her Player of the Year honor...Coppin State and North Carolina A&T came into the game as two of the hottest teams in the country...the Lady Eagles now have an 11-game win streak while the Lady Aggies had won 18 of their last 19 before this game...it is the third tournament title for Coppin State in four years...NC A&T held an advantage in bench points, 18-4.
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