Phylicia Jones recorded her first collegiate double-double with a career-high 14 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Norfolk State.
RALEIGH, N.C. (March 11, 2008)-It took Morgan State a little longer to get going than head coach Donald Beasley would have liked, but in the end his sixth-seeded Lady Bears had an 86-65 victory over No. 11 Norfolk State on Tuesday evening in the opening of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament, held at the RBC Center.
Phylicia Jones recorded her first collegiate double-double, pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds and scoring a career-high 14 points, while Corin Adams and Jasmine Sellers added 14 and 12 points, respectively for the Lady Bears.
With the victory, Morgan State improved to 19-10 on the season, thus setting the school record for victories on the Division I level, surpassing the previous mark of 18 wins, which they recorded last season. It was also the second consecutive year that Morgan State has won its first tournament game and the first time that’s happened since 1996-2000 when the Lady Bears won four-straight tournament openers.
Norfolk State (5-23), which closed out the season losing nine of their last 10 games, including four straight was led by Danelle Tate, who scored a game-high 19 points and hauled down a team-leading nine rebounds. Raychele Payne added 16 points and Genor Dalton added 12 for the Spartans. Tashawna Higgins came off the bench and had a game-high five steals.
Morgan State, which built several double digit leads in the first half could never seem to put the Spartans away, until it used a 13-5 run capped off with a three-pointer by Phylicia Jones from the left corner before time expired, giving the Lady Bears a 50-29 advantage at the break.
The Lady Bears tallied 18 steals with Adams and Tamara Rogers finishing with three steals apiece.
The Lady Bears will now face No. 3 Delaware State on Thursday, March 13 at noon at the RBC Center. The Hornets, who are the defending MEAC Tournament champions, following last year’s 55-42 victory over Morgan State in the title game, swept this season’s regular season series.
