Moneshia Davis recorded 16 points, 10 steals and nine rebounds in the win over Northwestern State to earn all-tournament honors.
Morgan State 53, Northwestern State 48
CHICAGO, Ill. (Nov. 27, 2010)-Morgan State sophomore guard Moneshia Davis scored a game-high 16 points, recorded a career- and game-high 10 steals and added a team-high nine rebounds – falling one board shy of recording the program's second-ever triple-double – to lead the Lady Bears to a 53-48 non-conference victory over Northwestern State in the consolation game of the DePaul Maggie Dixon Classic on Saturday evening at McGrath Arena.
Erin Hawkins contributed 13 points, had four rebounds and tallied three steals, as Morgan State improved to 4-2 on the season and 2-0 all-time against members of the Southland Conference. The victory also was the 80th career win for head coach Donald Beasley at Morgan State.
Earlier in the day, Coach Beasley addressed the team following their pre-game meal and expressed how displeased and disappointed he was with their lackluster performance the night before against UC Riverside. The Lady Bears responded by scoring the first 15 points of the game with Davis scoring eight of the 15 points. Northwestern State, which missed their first 17 shots, finally got on the board with a layup by Jessica McPhail with 8:16 left in the first half.
Staying consistent on both ends of the floor and going on scoreless droughts has been a problem for Morgan State thus far this season, and once again surfaced, hindering the Lady Bears from really blowing the game wide open.
The Lady Demons used a 10-3 run over the course of just under five minutes to get within eight points (22-14) after a basket by Jasmine Upchurch with 1:48 left to play, but Morgan State scored the last three-points and took a 25-14 lead into the lockerroom.
Northwestern State (2-4) used a 9-2 run to start the second half and got within 23-27 with 18:19 to play in the contest. However, the Lady Bears would put together a 20-4 run, ending with a jumper by Mahala Thomas to give Morgan State its largest lead of the day (20 points) at 47-27 with 9:14 to go.
But, the Lady Demons would not go away and coupled by Morgan State's scoring droughts Northwestern State dwindled the 20-point deficit down to five points. Jordan James knocked down a three-pointer to trigger a 17-2 run by the Lady Demons over the next six minutes and McPhail capped it off with a three-pointer to pull Northwestern State within 49-45 with 3:11 to play.
The Lady Demons would get within five points two more times, with the last coming on a jumper by Meredith Graf for the game's final score with four seconds left.
Northwestern State was led by Upchurch, who came off the bench to score 11 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Brittiany Houston and Graf each added eight points.
Host DePaul captured the 2010 DePaul Maggie Dixon Classic title, while UC Riverside took second-place and Northwestern State took fourth behind Morgan State. Moneshia Davis was named to the DePaul Maggie Dixon Classic All-Tournament Team. Davis tallied 27 points, 15 rebounds (13 defensive), 14 steals, four assists and a block in two games over the weekend. Joining Davis on the all-tournament team was: Keisha Hampton-MVP, Taylor Pikes and Anna Martin of DePaul and TreShont Nottingham and Brittany Waddell of UC Riverside.
The Lady Bears head home for a four-game homestand, beginning on Wednesday, Dec. 1, when they play host to UNC Greensboro at 3 p.m. at Hill Field House.
