BALTIMORE — No. 2 South Carolina women’s basketball’s visit to Coppin State elicited a ton of roars from the crowd at the Physical Education Complex. A sea of garnet and black filled the stands. Every Gamecocks possession featured plenty of cheers, but Eagles fans were not deterred.
They clapped back, with the cheerleaders stomping on the bleachers. There was even some showmanship from Coppin. Erin Henry, a 5-foot-8 guard for the Eagles, handled the tip-off duties against South Carolina 6-foot-6 center Madina Okot, who won the tip. The David and Goliath battle favored the giants of South Carolina in a 90-48 win.
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley stood cool, calm and collected, feeling right at home. The Philadelphia native noted how similar the cities seemed when riding through town. She grew up in North Philadelphia and played at Murrell Dobbins Vocational High School, an area lined with rowhomes similar to West Baltimore. And just like West Baltimore, Philadelphia has a reputation for its gritty nature and commitment to physical basketball.
“I don’t get home very often, maybe once or twice a year,” Staley said. “Flying in and just going through the city, they’re very, very similar. The rowhomes, the people carrying their sneakers — everybody just went to the gym. Just the familiarity of being in a big city, it’s cool. It really is cool. It actually took me back down memory lane — just riding down the city. I completely enjoyed it.”
Staley’s star power was apparent throughout the day. She met with Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott, Coppin State athletic director Derek Carter, university president Anthony L. Jenkins and first-year head coach Darrell Mosley.
Staley, 55, took over the Temple head coaching job ahead of the 2000-2001 season while still playing in the WNBA. She made her mark at Temple with six appearances in the NCAA Tournament, four Atlantic 10 tournament championships and three regular-season Atlantic 10 championships. She compiled a 172-80 record from 2000-2008 before moving on to South Carolina, where she has won three national championships.
Like Staley, Mosley grew up in the Philadelphia region in nearby Chester, Pa. He was the head coach at nearby Lincoln (Pa.) from 2015-2021, then an assistant at Arizona State before taking the job at Coppin.
Mosley looks at Staley as a trailblazer. The chance to play against South Carolina and a coach like Staley doesn’t present itself often. To pack the 4,100-seat Physical Education Complex meant a great deal to Mosley.
It’s an experience that he won’t ever forget.
“We were supposed to get on a call and last night she was on the road recruiting, but before the game, I gave her a hug and embraced her and just saying, ‘We appreciate this moment,’ because I said, ‘Dawn — you’ve got the Dawn effect. All these people are here for you,'” Mosley said. “We’ve played six or seven home games and we probably average 100 fans — if that.”
“I’ve probably had six or seven interviews this week,” the coach continued. “I’ve had people calling me that since elementary school that I haven’t talked to. Just the awareness that she’s brought today, the awareness that she’s brought for an HBCU, it wouldn’t have happened had she not taken this game. I’m really appreciative for her and just being part of the opportunity to play this game today.”
South Carolina sophomore guard Maddy McDaniel grew up in Upper Marlboro and played at Bishop McNamara, where she earned 2023 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors. She posted six points, two rebounds and five assists in the Gamecocks’ win.
“It just means a lot — being able to play in front of my friends and family,” said McDaniel, who welcomed in her cousins and family members who can’t typically travel to South Carolina for games. “Just ones that haven’t seen me play in awhile and have only been able to see me play on TV. So, it’s really good that they’ve been able to see me play in the flesh.”
This marks the fifth consecutive season that Coppin has hosted a power-conference team. The Eagles upset Arizona State, 74-68, in December 2024. Coppin welcomed LSU in December 2023 to much fanfare. Angel Reese, a Randallstown native, All-American and a defending national champion, scored 26 points, grabbed six rebounds and notched five steals in an 80-48 victory. The Eagles lost to Pittsburgh, 56-41, in November 2022. Coppin lost to Maryland, 98-52, in December 2021, Reese’s only visit before transferring to LSU.
The Eagles have already gone through a gauntlet of power-conference schools in Mosley’s first year as the team’s head coach, including losses to Arizona State, Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee, Oklahoma, SMU and Georgia.
Even with Coppin sitting at 4-16 overall to begin the 2025-26 season, the power-conference battles have brought the team closer together. While the Eagles held the lead for a mere 16 seconds against South Carolina, it proved a ton to senior guard Paris McBride, who scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds.
“What we take away from this is that we can compete with anybody and we tie our shoes up and play tough,” McBride said. “Looking forward to conference [play], it’s just another stepping stone. We take our loss, but we take the lessons learned from this game as far as we can rebound with anybody — the No. 2 team in the nation in rebounding — [and] we can score. Our goal is to score 40-plus points, so we went out and got 48.
“Just competing and taking that into our conference and having that conference like, ‘We played the No. 2 team and we hooped.’ We hooped as much as we could. We’re looking forward to cutting the nets down [in the MEAC tournament] at the end of the season.”
South Carolina (19-1) hits the road again for an SEC bout against Oklahoma on Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m. Coppin State, 2-2 in MEAC play, will host conference foe Howard on Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m.
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