Northwestern Holds Off Morgan State, 87-74
Chyress Lockhart came off the bench to score a team-high 12 points against Northwestern.

Northwestern Holds Off Morgan State, 87-74

12/14/2011 9:24:00 PM

Morgan State 74, Northwestern 87
 
EVANSTON, Ill. (Dec. 14, 2012)-Kendall Hackney scored a career- and game-high 29 points on 13-of-18 shooting and Morgan Jones added 20 points to lead host Northwestern to an 87-74 victory over Morgan State in a non-conference game on Tuesday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
 
The game which was Northwestern's annual 'Field Trip Day' was played in front of an announced crowd of 4,251 the majority of which were energetic kids from the surrounding Chicago area elementary and middle schools.
 
Dannielle Diamant added 14 points and Tailor Jones came off the bench and chipped in with 10 points for the Wildcats (8-1), who improved to 4-1 at home this season.
 
The Lady Bears (2-4), who were playing the sixth of 16 straight road games to start the season, were led by Chyress Lockhart, who scored 12 points in a reserve role and dished out a team-high four assists. DeKeish Mathis was limited to nine points, while four Lady Bear players added eight points.
 
Morgan State, which trailed by as much as 15 points in the first half, pulled within five points 47-42 with 16:40 remaining in the contest after Mathis knocked down three consecutive free throws and Omara Parker added a jumper with 16:40 remaining. But the host Wildcats countered with a 27-9 spurt over the next five minutes, capped off by a three-pointer by Jones with 10:24 left in the game to extend their cushion over Morgan State to 23 points (74-51) its largest of the game.
 
After falling behind 12-2 to start the game, Morgan State got back-to-back three-pointers to pull within four points at 12-8, but from there it was all Northwestern. The host Wildcats out of the Big 10 Conference used a 14-4 run to increase its advantage to 29-15 with 12:01 to play.
 
However, as has been the case all season, the Lady Bears let teams build leads and then they wake up. Morgan State countered with an 11-2 spurt capped off with back-to-back baskets by Moneshia Davis to pull the guests within 31-26 with 7:37 remaining in the opening half.
 
That would be as close as the guests would get, as the Wildcats would score the next eight points to extend their lead to 39-26. Morgan State cut the lead to 10 points twice, before a layup by Lockhart and a defensive stand by the Lady Bears in the final 26 seconds had them trailing 45-37 at the intermission.
 
Northwestern shot 51 percent and 41 percent from three-point range for the game. The Wildcats finished with 32 assists with Allison Mocchi leading the way with eight. The Wildcats out rebounded Morgan State, 51-37 and held a 13-2 advantage in blocks.
 
Morgan State shot 34 percent and 27 percent from three-point range. The Lady Bears held a 43-12 advantage in bench points and had 14 steals to the Wildcats' 11. Morgan State also forced 25 Northwestern turnovers, while committing 16 of their own.
 
The Lady Bears will be off until Sunday, Dec. 18, when they take on Missouri State at 2:05 p.m. CT.
 
Lady Bears Notes:
- The loss to Northwestern marked the first two-game losing skid of the season for Morgan State.
- Sophomore Kierah Hicks made her Morgan State debut and finished with six points on 2-of-3 shooting from three-point range.
- Morgan State scored 70-plus points for just the second time this season. The Lady Bears' 74 points are the most points scored by the team this season, surpassing the 73 points in a win earlier this season at George Washington.
- The Lady Bears' 70 points was just the second time in five home games this season for Northwestern that an opponent scored more than 62 points. DePaul scored 88 in a win over the Wildcats (Nov. 27).
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