Matchup                 Towson (2-2) vs. Coppin State (1-3)
When                     Sunday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m.
Where                    SECU Arena | Towson, Md.
TV/Stream              Monumental Sports Network | FloCollege
Live Stats               TowsonTigers.com
Series                    Towson leads the all-time series, 12-4
 
TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University women's basketball team is hosting cross-town foe, Coppin State, on Sunday at 2 p.m. at SECU Arena.
 
It is the Tigers' first of eight games being simulcast on Monumental Sports Network, in addition to FloCollege.
 
Scouting the Eagles
Coppin State enters Sunday's game at 1-3 overall. The Eagles have faced three Power 4 programs to begin the season in Arizona State, Ohio State and Penn State, falling to all three teams on the road. In their home opener, the Eagles defeated Lincoln (Pa.) by a score of 80-47. In the 2025-26 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Preseason Poll, the Eagles were picked to finish sixth with 60 total points. Senior guard transfer from Troy, Khila Morris,  leads the team with 16.3 points per game on 51.1% shooting to start the year. North Texas transfer, Jahcelyn Hartfield, is averaging 6.0 points and 5.0 rebounds on 44.4% shooting from the field.
 
Last Time Out
On Thursday night, the 9^th-ranked Maryland Terrapins (4-0) jumped out to a lead in the first half over Towson (2-2), going up 51-23 at the break. The Tigers had a strong showing in the second half, outscoring the Terps 47-37 on 54.8% second-half shooting. The Terps won by a score of 88-70.
 
Thalia Shepard and India Johnston finished with 23 and 20 points, respectively. It marks the first time two Tigers finished with 20 or more points since Patricia Anumgba (22) and Kylie Kornegay-Lucas (25) did against Stony Brook on Feb. 8, 2024.
 
The Returners
India Johnston, the Tigers' top scorer from a season ago, returns after averaging 12.5 points, 2.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game on 37.4% shooting. Semaya Turner also returns, who led the Black & Gold with 34 steals last season, averaging 1.1 per game. Shariah Baynes will don the Black & Gold in her sophomore season after averaging 21 minutes in 32 games during her freshman campaign. Masyn Marchbanks rounds out the back court returners, who played just two games last season before missing the rest of the season due to injury. In the front court, forward Kayla Morris returns after pacing the Tigers with 1.9 blocks and 1.3 steals per game last year.
 
Transfer Class
The 2025-26 Towson women's basketball transfer class is highlighted by the trio of upperclassmen guards Tilda Sjökvist, Zoli Khalil and Thalia Shepard.
 
Sjökvist comes from Mizzou, where she averaged 1.6 points, 1.4 assists and 1.1 rebounds in 9.9 minutes per game for the Tigers last season. Prior to Mizzou, the Swede played for Presbyterian, where she was the 2023-24 Big South Tournament MVP and an All-Big South Second Team selection after averaging 12.2 points, 3.5 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. Her 1,227 total minutes played in her last season with the Blue Hose are the most in the team's Division I history and her 169 made field goals are the third-most in Presbyterian's history.
 
Khalil joins the Tigers out of VCU, where she led the Rams last season with a 44.6% three-point field goal percentage. She averaged 8.5 points per game, which ranked second on the team. The Virginia native posted a career-high 21 points at George Washington in the Rams' 65-56 win on Jan. 22, 2025. The junior added 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in 25.5 minutes per game. Khalil shot 43.5% from the field and 63% from the free throw line.
 
Shepard joins the Black & Gold from Merrimack, where she led the Warriors with 13.6 points per game. The Boston native posted a career-high 27 vs. Siena in the second round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship on March 13, 2025. The junior added 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.1 assists in 30.7 minutes per game. Shepard shot 39.4% from the field, 20.2% from deep and 73.2% from the free throw line.
 
Other transfers include redshirt freshman guard Viki Matulevicius, who did not see action last season at South Dakota, and graduate forward/center Hannah Dereje. Dereje joins the Tigers from Elon, where she averaged 3.9 points on a 48.4% field goal percentage, adding 2.2 rebounds in 9.9 minutes per game.
 
League Honors
Senior guard India Johnston earned a 2025-26 Preseason All-CAA Second Team selection after pacing the Tigers with 12.5 points per game on 37.4% shooting from the field, adding a team-best 2.5 assists. The Delaware product was efficient from behind the arc, hitting 52 triples at a 34.7% clip. She added 2.5 rebounds and 0.7 steals in 34 minutes per game in 32 games last season.
 
Johnston shot with improved efficiency in league play during her junior campaign, shooting 38.7% from the field and 35.9% from three-point range against CAA opponents. The senior matched her career-high of 24 in the second round of the CAA Championship last March, accounting for 45.3% of the Tigers' points in the win over the No. 6 Elon Phoenix.
 
International Flavor
Two young Tigers got a taste for International Basketball Federation (FIBA) basketball this summer. True freshman Asya Lara Barnes played for Turkey in the U18 Women's FIBA EuroBasket, where she led the entire field in three-point field goals made. Barnes finished seventh overall in shooting efficiency from behind the arc and led Turkey in scoring.
 
Redshirt freshman Viki Matulevicius played for Lithuania in the U20 Women's FIBA EuroBasket, helping the team reach its first-ever championship appearance. She averaged 12.2 points on 43.2% shooting, adding 2.1 assists per game, all of which ranked third on Lithuania's team.
 
Southpaws at SECU
The Tigers have three players on the team this season who are natural left-handed shooters: Thalia Shepard, Asya Lara Barnes and Nadeya Regala.
 
Welcoming Coaches
The Tigers have added a couple new, and one familiar face, to the staff ahead of the 2025-26 season.
 
Tony DiClemente joined the staff as an assistant coach after serving as associate head coach at Army West Point last season, where he helped lead the Black Knights to 25 wins, the team's second most in program history. Army earned a berth to the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT), where the Black Knights earned their first-ever Division I postseason win, 59-58, over Bryant.
 
Nick Boboshko returns to Towson as an assistant coach and the director of basketball operations after working in a similar role for Presbyterian last season. Prior to Presbyterian, Boboshko served as a graduate assistant at Ottawa University in Kansas. The Maryland native graduated from TU in 2023 after being a two-year manager and practice player for the Tigers from 2021-23.
 
Chris Hays joins the Tigers as the assistant director of basketball performance. Hays has held similar strength and conditioning roles with private facilities and other Division I institutions
like Jacksonville and Drexel. The Pennsylvania native previously worked with Coach Harper during her Coppin State tenure from 2020-22.
 
Other changes on the staff include Eric Atkins' elevation to associate head coach and Lorie Khalil's assumption of the general manager role for the 2025-26 season.
 
Last Season's Recap
Towson finished the 2024-25 season at 12-20 overall and 8-10 in CAA play. The Tigers entered the CAA Championship as the No. 11 seed and topped the No. 14 Northeastern Huskies in the opening round. In the second round, the Tigers upset the No. 6 Elon Phoenix, backed by India Johnston's career-high-tying 24 points. The Tigers faced No. 3 Campbell in the quarterfinal round, where they fell at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C.