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| JORDAN SWAILS 5'-11" GUARD SENIOR CLASS HOMETOWN: UPPER MARLBORO, MD COURTESY COPPIN STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION |
BALTIMORE, Maryland -- Coppin State head women's basketball coach Derek Brown gave the public a first glimpse of his 2015-16 squad during the annual Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Women's Basketball Coaches' Teleconference Wednesday morning.
During the 10-minute call, Brown discussed his veteran team and competitive schedule. Coppin State will be one of the more experienced teams in the MEAC this season as it returns 84.7 percent of its scoring, five seniors and four starters from a team that won a MEAC Tournament game for the fifth consecutive season.
"We are looking for some positive things to happen this season," said Brown, who is entering his 17th year at the helm of the Lady Eagles. "We have an older squad which I like. Hopefully we'll finish in the top half of the league this year."
One reason for that optimism is the senior quintet of Jordan Swails, Amber Griffin, Omaah Tayong, Janelle Lane and Tanaysa Henderson. They have been through many battles and all played significant roles when Coppin State advanced to the MEAC Tournament championship contest in 2014.
Swails led the Lady Eagles in scoring with an 11.3 point per game average while Lane was second on the team with a 10.0 point per game average. Griffin is third all-time in CSU history in assists with 293. Tayong had a memorable outing against Savannah State in 2014 when she snatched a career best 23 rebounds. Henderson has been a solid contributor for Coppin State during her career.
Brown couldn't contain his excitement when discussing his seniors.
"When you have seniors, it's sort of a different attitude and they know this is their last year," Brown said. "They know no one is above them. This is as high as you can go. They have a mature and a very confident attitude. We're looking for some good things to happen this year. You're looking at five seniors coming back who have all played significant minutes for us in the last couple of years. We have a senior-laden team with an all-rookie team starter returning."
That would be redshirt sophomore Genesis Lucas, who was named to the All-MEAC Rookie Team after averaging 8.9 points per game. Lucas sparked Coppin State in her 15 starts, averaging 12.8 points per game, 4.2 assists per contest, 1.7 steals per outing during that time. Key returnees also include junior Keena Samuels, sophomore Candice Beverly, sophomore D'Ajahnae Smith and sophomore Oluwaseun Adejini.
Two newcomers to this season's team are sophomore Vanessa Neal, a transfer from Niagara University, and freshman Alexis Taylor, who was a part of a championship team all four years at Takoma Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist school in Takoma Park (Md.).
"She's not a Seventh-day Adventist and she will be playing on Saturday's," Brown quipped.
That's a great thing because nine of Coppin State's 28 regular season games are scheduled for Saturday's this season. Of course, a 10th Saturday game on March 14 would mean an appearance in the MEAC Tournament championship game, which is the goal.
Coppin State begins its season on the road at VCU for an 11:00 a.m. start. The Lady Eagles home opener will be on Thursday, November 19 against IMBC at noon. Coppin State's tough slate features games against three schools that competed in last season's NCAA Tournament and contests against four ACC schools.
"As always we'll try to be competitive and learn as much as possible to help us going into the MEAC season," Brown said of his schedule. "We feel that we're going to be competitive."
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