Whitney Johnson finished with nine points against Hampton on Monday.
BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 16, 2012)-It was not a happy Martin Luther King Day for the Morgan State women's basketball team. The Lady Bears welcomed the two-time defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion Lady Pirates of Hampton to town on Monday afternoon for their second home contest of the season and Hampton proved to be all as advertised and more.
Choicetta McMillian scored a game-high 22 points to lead five Lady Pirates in double figures scoring, as Hampton dealt the Lady Bears an 83-51 loss at Hill Field House. Jerika Jenkins notched a double-double, finishing with 16 points and a game-high 12 assists, giving her 511 assists for her career.
Nicole Hamilton also got into the scoring act, coming off the bench to record 15 points, while Melanie Warner contributed 13 points and Ariel Phelps chipped in with 10 points and a career-high four blocked shots in a reserve role. Alyssa Bennett hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds for Hampton which improved to 21-11 all-time against Morgan State and has now won the last three meetings against Morgan State by an average of 33.3 points. The 83 points scored by the Lady Pirates was also a season-best.
Morgan State (3-14, 0-4 MEAC) seemed up to the challenge and stayed close for the better part of the first half. Morgan State pulled within, 25-23 on a put back by Amarah Williams with 6:14 left in the opening half.
But Hampton, the MEAC preseason favorite, withstood the Lady Bears' punches through the first 16 minutes of the game before taking control.
The Lady Pirates (13-3, 5-0 MEAC) then closed out the half with on a 16-4 spurt with runs of 9-0 and 7-0 to take a 41-27 lead at the intermission to prove that on this day the two programs are at different levels.
Morgan State got back-to-back treys from Whitney Southerland to cut the deficit to 11 points at 54-43 in the second half with 12:16 remaining in the contest, but never really got going or back in the game. The Lady Pirates countered with a 15-2 run over the next six minutes as part of a 27-8 run to close out the game.
The Lady Bears were led by Chyress Lockhart, DeKeisha Mathis and Southerland, who all finished with nine points. Moneshia Davis added eight points, recorded three steals and tied team-high honors of six rebounds with Tracey Carrington.
The loss was the third straight for Morgan State against the Lady Pirates, who have not defeated Hampton since a 90-87 overtime victory in Virginia on Feb. 23, 2009. The Lady Bears also fell to 0-4 in MEAC play for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
Hampton forced 24 Morgan State turnovers, converting those into 28 points. The Lady Pirates also tallied 15 steals with Jenkins collecting a game-high five steals.
The Lady Bears continue their four-game homestand when they host North Carolina A&T next Saturday, Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. at Hill Field House.
