Morgan State University Athletics

Morgan State 56, UMES 62

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. (Jan. 24, 2011)-Less than 48 hours after moving into a first-place tie with Hampton in the loss column of the league standings, Morgan State was dealt a 64-56 loss at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES).

The Lady Hawks' Casey Morton, who two days earlier scored a career-high 26 points in a win over Coppin State, tallied a game-high 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including four three-pointers, to lead host UMES to a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) victory on Monday night at the Hytche Center. 

Morton, who scored 11 of her points in the second half also added a game-high five steals and pulled down four rebounds, while Chelsea Sanders, who totaled 13 of her 14 points in the first half, shot 4-for-6, including 6-of-7 from the free throw line in the win.

Morgan State (10-8, 4-2 MEAC), which had its season-long three-game winning streak snapped, finally had the services of junior transfer Kyla Rollins, who made her long awaited debut tonight and didn't disappoint. Rollins came off the bench and led the Lady Bears with a team-high 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds in 22 minutes of play. Theresa Davis added 13 points on 6-of-11 from the field and pulled down five boards to help Morgan State to a 35-26 rebounding advantage over the Lady Hawks. 

The Lady Bears jumped out to a 12-3 advantage before the host Lady Hawks countered with a 14-2 run to reclaim the lead at 17-14.

Morgan State upped its lead to 27-24, following a layup by Moneshia Davis with 4:10 remaining in the first half, but has been the case this season with the Lady Bears, the team would be hindered by a scoreless drought and would not score the rest of the half. UMES meanwhile closed out the final four minutes with an 8-0 run to take a 32-27 halftime lead. 

The 32 first half points for UMES, were the second most first half points allowed this season by Morgan State in a MEAC contest and was the third time a MEAC opponent scored more than 20 points in the opening half. Only Howard (21 points) and Hampton (36) had previously scored more than 20 in the opening half.

UMES (7-12, 4-2 MEAC) increased its cushion to 43-33 after two free throws by Morton with 15:11 remaining. But Morgan State countered with back-to-back three-pointers by Brittany Noel and Erin Hawkins to pull within 43-39. 

The Lady Bears then used a 17-10 spurt, capped off by Hawkins third three-pointer of the game, this time from the left elbow to even the score at 56 all with 2:57 left to play. But that would be as close as the visitors would get, as Morgan State would fail to score again and UMES closed out the game scoring the final eight points.

Morgan State, which is now in a three-way tie for second-place in the league standings with North Carolina A&T and UMES, returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 29, when it plays host to Norfolk State in a MEAC game at Hill Field House. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m., following the men's game which will air live on ESPNU at 1 p.m. 

BEAR CLAWS

- Junior transfer Kyla Rollins finally made her long awaited debut tonight at UMES. Rollins, who scored on her first attempt of the game, finished with a team-high 14 points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.

- The 32 first half points scored by UMES were the second most first half points scored by a MEAC opponent against Morgan State this season. Hampton scored 36 points in its win over Morgan State (1/10).

- Theresa Davis pulled down five rebounds, giving her 556 for her career. She is now 10 rebounds shy of moving past Corin “Tiny” Adams (564) for ninth-place all-time at Morgan State.