SAVANNAH, Ga.- Coppin State broke open a close game with a 14-0 run and went on to defeat Savannah State 71-45 in Tiger Arena.
 
CSU held the Lady Tigers without a field goal until the 13:17 mark when Rikiah Gatling made a layup.
 
Coppin raced out to a 18-5 advantage with 10:34 left in the first half.
 
The Eagles led by as many as 14 points before SSU rallied to cut their deficit to six by ending the half with eight unanswered points.
 
CSU ran their lead to 39-24 with 15;38 left in the game but the Lady Tigers pulled within 39-30 with 13:32 remaining.
 
Coppin answered SSU with 14 straight points for a 53-30 advantage with 6:41 left in the game and SSU never recovered.
 
SSU cut their deficit to 17 with just under four minutes left but Coppin ended the contest with a 13-4 run and a 26 point win.
 
CSU made 14 of 20 field goal attempts in the second half.
 
Both teams had 26 turnovers.
 
Coppin shot 52.4 percent from the floor while SSU shot 28.3 percent.
 
Ezinne Kalu led SSU with 10 points while Fila Smith and Jasmine Kirkland each had six rebounds.
 
Shawntae Payne and Leola Spotwood each had 17 points for Coppin.
 
Savannah State, who started the season 3-0, have now lost nine of their last 11 games and are 0-3 in the MEAC.
 
The Eagles improved to 6-9 overall and 1-1 in the MEAC.