BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 21, 2012)-DeKeisha Mathis scored a team-high 16 points and Tracey Carrington came off the bench to add 15 points to lead Morgan State past North Carolina A&T, 85-83 in overtime in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) game at Hill Field House on Saturday afternoon.
The victory was the third straight for Morgan State over N.C. A&T and ended the Lady Bears four-game MEAC losing skid to start the conference schedule.
Morgan State (4-14, 1-4 MEAC), which picked up its first home win of the season in only three tries, also got solid production out of freshman Amarah Williams. Williams recorded her second double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds and added four blocks and four steals, both game highs.
Last year's Morgan State-North Carolina A&T meeting in Baltimore went down to the wire and had added drama. This season's contest would be no different.
A year ago it was Morgan State's Brittany Dodson crossing up a Lady Aggie player along the baseline and connecting on a jumper at the buzzer for the game winner on what A&T faithful may call was the Jordan push off.
This season it was Morgan State freshman Tracey Carrington knocking down two free throws to put the hosts up 74-72 after being fouled under the basket with .04 seconds left in regulation. But prior to the ensuing inbound pass, Carrington would be called for a hold on N.C. A&T's Amber Calvin, despite it appearing that Calvin grabbed the arm of Carrington and placed it across her own body to draw the foul.
Nonetheless, it worked and even with Morgan State calling two timeouts during her attempts, Calvin calmly drained both free throws to even the score at 74 all and force overtime.
Morgan State, which entered the contest on a two-game losing skid and losers of 12 of its last 13 games, broke an 80 all score with a mini 5-0 spurt to take an 85-50 lead with 1:20 to play. The Lady Aggies cut the deficit to 85-83 when JaQuayla Berry hit a free throw to complete a three-point play.
A&T (7-11, 2-3 MEAC) would have one final chance to tie or win it, but Calvin turned the ball over at the free throw line and Williams secured her fourth and final steal of the game to preserve the victory for the Lady Bears.
The Lady Bears hung with A&T for the first nine minutes of the contest until the Lady Aggies used a 10-0 spurt to take a 28-19 lead at the 8:34 mark.
Morgan State fell behind by as much as 15 points (43-28) in the first half when the visitors used runs of 7-0 and 8-0 to extend their cushion. Tiffanie Adair capped off the last run with a basket and free throw with 2:28 remaining in opening half. The guests would take a 45-37 lead into the locker room.
The Lady Bears began the second half with a 19-11 run, capped off with a three-pointer by Mathis to even the score at 56 all with 11:19 to go. Morgan State's lead grew to 68-62, but the guests responded with an 8-0 run to take a 70-68 lead.
Morgan State countered by scoring six of the next eight points, including Carrington's potential game winning free throws, until Calvin's free throws sent it to overtime.
N.C. A&T was led by Calvin, who along with Adair finished with game-high honors of 20 points and each had five assists apiece. Nikia Gorham scored 15 points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds to record a double-double, while Berry also had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Lady Bears conclude their four-game homestand on Monday, Jan. 23rd when they host MEAC newcomer North Carolina Central at 5:30 p.m. at Hill Field House.
