RICHMOND, Va. – Senior guard D'Andra Moss (Atlanta, Ga.) scored a game-high 23 points and sophomore forward Courtney Hurt (Loganville, Ga.) registered a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead Virginia Commonwealth University to a 70-40 victory against Coppin State Monday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

VCU picks up its second-straight win and improves to 7-5 on the season, while Coppin State dropped its seventh game in the last eight tries to fall to 3-7.

"I think our focus coming in was to really build on what we did against Longwood," said VCU Head Coach Beth Cunningham.  "I thought we did a great job on the boards and on the defensive end of the floor.  We got a lot of great efforts from a lot of different people.  We are going to need a lot of key contributions and that kind of depth especially heading into the conference schedule.  That was a big positive coming out of this game for us."

Coppin State held an early 10-9 advantage at the 14:47 mark in the opening period before Hurt tied the game from the charity stripe two possessions later.  It was the last time the Eagles would lead as Hurt's free throw sparked a 25-7 VCU run over the next 10 minutes, including nearly a seven-minute scoring drought by Coppin State, and gave the Rams a comfortable 35-16 advantage with just under five minutes showing before the break. 

VCU, which forced 17 of Coppin State's 30 turnovers in the first half, closed out the period with a pair of Moss layups and took a 39-20 lead into the locker room.

Moss, who led all scorers with 17 first half points, hit two quick jumpers to start the second half and extended the VCU lead to 43-20 with 18:24 to go.  Her 21 points at the time was more than the entire Coppin State lineup. 

The Rams continued to pressure and never looked back leading by at least 21 points the remainder of the game.

"It's really important to have leadership and right now everyone is following La'Tavia [Rorie], Kita [Waller] and D'Andra [Moss]," Cunningham said.  "It's especially important coming off the tough trip in Las Vegas and how our team has been able to respond with two straight wins.  The seniors have been through this before and understand what it takes.  That positive leadership is a key for us."

Junior guard Ebony Patterson (Chesterfield, Va.) came off the bench and added 12 points and five assists for VCU, while senior guard Kita Waller (Gainesville, Ga.) contributed nine points and a game-high five steals.

Senior forward Chanelle Downing led Coppin State with 12 points and sophomore forward Crystal Whittington scored nine points in a reserve role for the Eagles.

VCU has won 19 of its last 20 games at the Verizon Wireless Arena.  Richmond ended the Rams' school record 19-game home winning streak when it defeated the Rams on Dec. 6.

VCU opens Colonial Athletic Association play on Sun., Jan. 3 with a 2 p.m. matchup against Northeastern at the Verizon Wireless Arena.