WINSTON-SALEM, NC – Transfer Whitney Wiley had 17 points, including a crucial 3-pointer with 19.3 seconds left, and Tiara Knotts came off the bench for 13 points to lead eighth-seeded South Carolina State to a 54-49 win over Coppin State, the ninth seed, Tuesday in opening-round action of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament at the Lawrence Joel Veteran Memorial Coliseum.
The Lady Bulldogs, who improved to 12-18, doubling last year's win total, advanced to Wednesday's quarterfinal meeting with top-seeded North Carolina A&T. Tipoff is set for 12:30 p.m.
Coach Doug Robertson's team, which led 22-18 at the half, moved out to a 13 point 38-25 lead with 8:32 left when Knotts made one of two free throws and appeared headed to a comfortable victory.
Coppin State, however, had other ideas and went on a 17-9 run to close the gap to 47-42 when Leola Spotwood connected on a 3-pointer with 2:32 to play.
Sophilia Hipps, the lone SC State senior, made one of two from the line to give the Lady Bulldogs a 48-42 cushion with 2:12 remaining, but the Lady Eagles got a 3-pointer from Dawnnae Roberts and a short jumper by Spotwood to close the gap to one, 48-47, with 1:05 on the clock.
Wiley gave SC State a 50-47 advantage on the Lady Bulldogs' trip down court, but Jeanine Manley, who led the Lady Eagles with 17 points, answered quickly, bringing Coppin to within 50-49 with 32 ticks left.
It was Wiley, again, pulling the trigger for SC State when she made a 3-pointer from deep in the left corner to give the Lady Bulldogs a four-point 53-49 edge with just under 20 seconds left. Then came a big play by Knotts, the smallest player on the court, when she took a charge from Coppin's Manley, nullifying a basket that would have sliced the margin to two with 10 seconds remaining.
SC State took possession and Knotts, after being fouled, made one of two from the line with 2.6 seconds left for the final margin. The Lady Bulldog victory was the rubber match in the series as the two teams split doing the season, with each winning on the road.
An elated SC State's Roberts praised his team but noted the final minutes were intense and the outcome in doubt.
“For most of the contest, we played about as well as we could play,” Robertson said. “We have a lot of new and young players and things out intense at the end. I thought (when Coppin got within one), well it looks like we were going back to Orangeburg and I didn't want to go back to Orangeburg.
“But, we had four guards on the floor,” he continued, “and I told our players, on that last possession, to be patience. Then Hipps did a crossover, which I didn't want to see, but she found Wiley wide open and she made a great shot.”
Coppin's Derek Brown, whose team ended its season 10-19, said his team lacked intensity for most of the game.
“I thought the intensity that we needed to win a tournament game was not there,” Brown said. “We finally did turn it on a bit down the stretch, but I guess it was a little too late.
In facing top-seeded NC A&T, SC State will be trying to stop a 3-game sweep of their meetings this year. The Lady Aggies trailed for most of the game but came back to win 67-60 in Orangeburg, and then rolled to an 83-63 triumph at Greensboro.
“I expect it to be a good game,” said SC State's Robertson. 'We know their personnel pretty good and know what the try to do in the game. But, for us, the key will be executing well. We know what we have to do to have a chance.”
