Box Score
BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 8, 2014)-The Morgan State women's basketball team concluded its non-conference slate with an 85-51 loss to the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday evening at Hill Field House.
The loss was the fifth straight for Morgan State and the third consecutive home loss for the Lady Bears during their current four-game homestand.
Penn (8-2) improved to 2-0 all-time against the Lady Bears, while extending its winning streak to eight straight, which is the second-longest winning streak in the program's history. The win is also the best 10-game start in program history and is the first eight-game non-conference win streak in school history.
Katy Allen scored a team-high 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting, including 2-for-2 from three-point range, while Alyssa Baron added a team-high 14 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds for the Quakers. Sydney Stipanovich came off the bench to record 13 points, eight rebounds and record a tied a career-high six blocks in the win.
13 of the 15 Penn players to play in the game scored at least two points, while just five of the 11 Morgan State players reached the scoring column.
"Penn's a very good team," said Morgan State head coach
Donald Beasley. "They were coming off a win in Miami and they shot the ball well. We didn't shoot the ball well and just didn't score. I thought we played excellent defense even though we were down 20 in the first half. We had intensity and we were there, they just made shots.
"At the end of the game it looked like we weren't hustling, but the kids played very good for three quarters, so I was happy with that," added Beasley. "We're going into the conference play on Saturday, so I need to get them some rest and just hope we don't worry about that."
Morgan State (2-12) was led by junior guard
Tracey Carrington, who scored a game-high 29 points, including a career-high four three-pointers on five attempts in the loss.
Danielle Forrest,
Dinah Jones and
Simone Sampson all scored six points.
Ivy Harrington added four points.
A jumper by Jones evened the score at 10-10 with 14:17 left in first half, before Penn responded with a 13-0 run to take a 23-10 advantage.
Carrington ended Penn's run and a five-minute drought without a basket by the Lady Bears, following her bucket with 9:12 remaining, cutting the deficit to 23-13.
After the guests countered with a 10-5 run to increase their lead to 33-18, Carrington scored four straight points for Morgan State to bring the Lady Bears within 33-22. The Quakers would hold a 41-25 cushion at the break.
The second half continued to be all Penn as the Quakers used a run of 14-6 to take a 55-31 lead, followed by a 17-3 spurt to up their lead to 79-41. The Lady Bears would be held without a field goal and limited to just a free throw for 8:10, until Jones scored on a jumper with 2:20 left in the game to make the score 81-44.
Penn's bench outscored Morgan State, 41-12. The Quakers also held a 51-29 rebounding advantage over Morgan State and had 21 assists to just six by Morgan State.
"Dinah [Jones] looked pretty good today, Simone [Sampson] scored some baskets inside and Tracy [Carrington] did her thing and we had a couple of people step up," said Beasley. "So hopefully we can pick up from there and get back in conference and play conference ball."
Morgan State returns to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference action on Saturday, Jan. 11, when they play host to South Carolina State. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. at Hill Field House.
