Hampton, Liberty prevail, NSU comes up short on the road again

You catch that Duke/UConn action on Monday night? Guess there won't be any more debate about the Blue Devils being No. 1. But we digress.....

Monday's games:

Coppin State 64, Norfolk State 55: The Spartans (8-10, 1-7 MEAC) missed a prime opportunity to snag that elusive MEAC road win against a shorthanded opponent. On Saturday, a fight between players lasting several minutes broke out shortly after North Carolina A&T's 75-74 victory over Coppin State. From the Baltimore Sun:

Moments after players from both teams had performed the post-game handshake, Coppin's 6-foot-3 Jeanine Manley wound up in the middle of several A&T players when the first punches were thrown. Fights spread across the court before peace was achieved. There were several drops of blood leading from the court to the Coppin locker room, where first head coach Derek Brown and then Coppin athletics director Derrick Ramsey spoke to the players. "The thing that I want to express more than anything is that we're bigger than this," Ramsey said outside the women's locker room. "This is not what we teach over here … this is not what Coppin is about. This is an embarrassing moment for our institution, for my athletic program. This will not be tolerated. I have expressed that with my women."

We don't have an official word on suspensions, but the Lady Eagles played Monday without three of their top five scorers. That the Spartans were unable to capitalize was a direct result of their inability to handle the ball (29 turnovers) and the same failure to make plays down the stretch that cost them in Saturday's 4-point loss at Morgan State. After Genor Dalton's layup tied things at 51 with 5:53 to play, the Spartans had turnovers on their next four possessions and didn't get another field goal until Rae Corbo's layup with just 15 seconds left.

Hampton 47, Maryland-Eastern Shore 29: It wasn't exactly entertaining television (ESPNU aired the game), but for the second straight game the Lady Pirates held a MEAC opponent to 29 points. In fact, UMES finished with more turnovers (30) than points. The Lady Pirates held a MEAC opponent to 29 points for the second straight game, as the followed up their Quanneisha Perry had 12 points and 13 rebounds and Jericka Jenkins chipped in 11 points and 8 assists for the Lady Pirates, who have now held four of their last seven opponents to 37 points or less.

Liberty 68, Gardner-Webb 55: Jelena Antic scored 16 of her career-high 22 points after halftime as the Lady Flames (13-8, 7-1 Big South) moved into a first-place tie with Radford in the Big South. Liberty shot over 50 percent from the field for the second straight game (52.3) and made just enough 20 of their 36 free throw attempts to win their fourth straight and seventh in a row away from home. Devon Brown added 14 points and Avery Warley notched her 11th double-double of the season (12 points, 13 rebounds) for the Lady Flames, who will play five of their final eight games, including a Feb. 12 rematch with Gardner-Webb, at home. Of course, the money game is shaping up to be their Feb. 19 trip to Radford.