Coppin St. 46, Delaware St. 36

3/11/2006 7:57 PM

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - It's back to the NCAA tournament for Coppin State.

Top-seeded Coppin State defeated Delaware State 46-36 Saturday to win its second straight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship, earning another trip to the NCAA tournament and extending the Eagles' winning streak to 21 games.

Coppin State's Rashida Suber scored a game-high 14 points and was selected the MEAC Tournament's Most Outstanding Performer. Joining her on the all-tournament team were teammate Talia Sutton, Delaware State's Najimah Fauntleroy and Raquel Collier and Toni Kennedy of Maryland-Eastern Shore.

Tanezia Harden added 12 points and Shalamar Oakley 11 for Coppin State (22-8).

``Teams that finish strong should be rewarded in the tournament,'' Coppin State coach Derek Brown said, hoping the Eagles better last year's No. 16 seed. ``We finished this season as strong as any team could finish.''

Coppin State has won 29 straight against MEAC opponents, including an 18-0 sweep during the regular season this year.

``We don't know what it's like to lose,'' Suber said.

Suber hit five of her first eight shots and had 12 points by halftime against Delaware State (21-9) for a 24-16 lead at the break.

``Rashida Suber came out blazing,'' Brown said. ``That was just what we needed.''

Coppin State hit 10 of its first 13 shots, including two 3-pointers by Suber that sparked a 12-0 run.

After Delaware State switched to rotating zones, the Eagles missed their next 14 shots. But they held Delaware State to 5-for-24 shooting (20.8 percent).

Harden scored 10 points in the second half, eight points in the last 9:28, to help fight off a Delaware State rally.

Katreem Palmer scored six points in the first eight minutes after halftime as the Hornets closed to 32-30. They were down 37-34 with 6:24 to play, but then missed their last five shots from the floor and made 3-of-8 from the free throw line.

``Defensively, we played well, but we just did not capitalize on the turnovers we created and did not make big free throws,'' Delaware State coach Ed Davis said.

Delaware State, seeded No. 2 after being picked to finish no better than fourth in the MEAC preseason poll, was the last MEAC team to beat Coppin State - 51-50, on Feb. 12, 2005 in Baltimore.

The men's and women's MEAC championships were played at the RBC Center in Raleigh for the first time after six years in Richmond, Va.