DeKeisha Mathis finished with 15 points in the loss to VCU.
Morgan State 52, VCU 73
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (Dec. 28, 2011)-Courtney Hurt scored a game-high 32 points on 12-of-26 shooting and added a career- and game-high 21 rebounds, while Andrea Barbour added 23 points, eight rebounds and a game-high six steals to lead Virginia Commonwealth to a 73-52 victory over Morgan State in the opener of the Miami Holiday Tournament on Wednesday evening at the BankUnited Center.
Morgan State, which was making a return trip to Miami from last season's Miami Holiday Classic, was looking to reach the championship game for the second consecutive year against the host Hurricanes.
For the first 20 minutes it looked like that would happen. Unfortunately, for the Lady Bears they still had another 20 minutes to play. After a back-and-forth first half, Morgan State held a 28-26 lead at the intermission, but VCU came out a different team in the second half, going on a 12-0 run to start the half and take a 38-28 advantage just five minutes into the period.
Morgan State (2-8) got within 59-51 after a layup by Jamesia (Jamie) Smith with 4:15 remaining in the game. But that would be as close as the Lady Bears would get. VCU used a 9-0 run over two minutes to increase its lead to 68-51 and secure the victory.
The win would be the fifth straight for the Lady Rams (8-3) with the last three of their wins coming against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) foes – Coppin State, Norfolk State and now Morgan State. VCU also improved to 7-0 all-time against the Lady Bears.
The Lady Bears held a 10-4 lead, before the Lady Rams countered with a 9-2 spurt, capped off by five straight points by Barbour to take a 13-12 advantage. After trading leads back-and-forth, the Lady Bears scored four quick points to break a 21 all tie. But VCU would go on a mini 5-0 run of its own to take a 26-25 lead, before Keirah Hicks drained a three-pointer from the left wing to put Morgan State up 28-26 at the intermission.
Morgan State was led by DeKeisha Mathis, who finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, both team highs. Hicks came off the bench and scored 10 points, while Chyress Lockhart added nine points and five rebounds. Moneshia Davis led the team in steals with three to go with her five rebounds, two assists and block.
The Lady Bears face Holy Cross in the consolation game on Thursday evening at 5 p.m. at the BankUnited Center. The Crusaders were dealt an 89-49 loss to host Miami in the second game of the evening.
