NORFOLK, Va., March 4, 2022—Coppin State graduate guard Jaia Alexander was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Player of the Year, the conference office announced today.
Diamond Thomas of North Carolina Central was named Rookie of the Year, while
Norfolk State senior guard Camille Downs earned Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Coppin State head coach Laura Harper was named Coach of the Year.
All awards, presented by TowneBank, were voted on by the league’s head coaches and sports information directors.
Alexander led the MEAC in scoring this past season, averaging 15.0 points per game ih helping lead Coppin State to a 15-12 season and a 9-5 mark in MEAC play. She was also second in the conference in free throw shooting, hitting on 79.8% of her shots from the charity stripe, and Alexander also ranked fourth in rebounding, averaging 7.3 boards per contest. Alexander was eighth in field goal percentage (34.8%) and eclipsed the 20-point mark seven times – including two 30-point efforts – and racked up six double-doubles to tie for the MEAC lead. The three-time MEAC Player of the Week was third in the MEAC in scoring in conference play at 14.8 points a contest.
Thomas was a six-time MEAC Rookie of the Week this season, a campaign in which she was second in the MEAC in scoring with 14.3 points a game (and she led the MEAC with 17.2 points a game in conference play). She also ranked second in the conference in 3-pointers made per game (2.4) and 3-point field goal percentage (31.0%). She had 16 double-digit scoring performances, including a stretch of 12 in a row from Dec. 20 through Feb. 21, and Thomas racked up six 20-point games.
Downs ended the regular season ranked fifth in the nation in steals per game and sixth in total steals, leading the MEAC in both categories with 3.5 and 88, respectively. The four-time MEAC Defensive Player of the Week and three-time MEAC Player of the Week grabbed a career-high 10 steals against Morgan State on Jan. 24 – a conference best this season – and she recorded at least three steals in a game 16 times.
Harper led the Eagles to the No. 4 seed in the 2022 MEAC Basketball Tournament after Coppin State was selected to finish sixth among eight teams in the preseason redicted order of finish. Coppin State was 15-12 overall and 9-5 in MEAC play, the program’s first winning season since 2013-14 (and its first season with a winning MEAC record since 2015-16). The Eagles also boasted non-conference wins against the likes of La Salle, William & Mary, Saint Francis, Marshall, Saint Peter’s and Winthrop.
Joining Alexander and Downs on the 2022 All-MEAC First Team are Coppin State’s Aliyah Lawson, Howard’s Anzhane’ Hutton and Norfolk State’s Deja Francis.
The 2021-22 regular-season co-champions, First Team honorees and other award winners, including Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, will be recognized in pre-game presentations prior to the honorees’ first games in tournament play.
The 2022 MEAC Basketball Tournament begins Wednesday, March 9, and runs through Saturday, March 12, at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va.
For more information, log on to
www.meachoops.com.