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ATHENS, Ga. (Nov. 14, 2014)-The Lady Bears will kick off the 2014-15 season on the road for the first time in two seasons when they travel to the Peach State to take on the University of Georgia in a non-conference game on Friday, Nov. 14 at Stegeman Coliseum. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Athens, Ga. The game can be seen live on the SEC Network + and on ESPN3.com. Morgan State will wrap up its trip when they visit Georgia Tech on Sunday, Nov. 16. That game will get underway at 2 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta, Ga.
 
BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears enter the 2014-15 season with eight letterwinners, including four starters returning from last season's 5-25 squad. Senior captain Tracey Carrington will once again look to guide a Morgan State team which has just three upperclassmen and welcomes nine newcomers. A native of Baltimore, Md., Carrington averaged 20.9 points per game last season, which ranked 29th in the nation. The 2014-15 preseason first-team All-MEAC selection and a MEAC Player of the Year selection by College Sports Madness, Carrington also led the team in rebounding (5.7) per game and  assists (53) and ranked second on the team in steals with 40. Sophomore Ivy Harrington returns as the second leading scorer from a year ago. The Neptune, N.J. native averaged 7.0 points per game, was second on the team in steals (43), third in assists (39) and was fourth in rebounding (3.7) per contest.
  
DAWG BISCUITS: Georgia enters the contest returning 10 letterwinners, including four starters from last season. Those returnees accounted for 82.8 percent of its points and 86.8 percent of its rebounds from a year ago. The Lady Bulldogs, who are guided by head coach Andy Landers who is seven wins shy of his 850th victory at Georgia. UGA is 32-9 in season openers, including a 30-5 mark under Landers. Georgia has won 12 of its last 13 openers, losing only to defending national champion Baylor in the 2005-06 opener. UGA which last season finished with a 20-12 overall mark, reached the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. It was the 31st overall and 20th consecutive appearance in the program's history. UGA was paced last season by Shacobia Barbee, who became the first player in program history to lead Georgia in average points (12.2), rebounds (7.9), assists (3.2) and steals with 2.6 per game, which was also an SEC-best. Georgia is 28-1 all-time against MEAC competition.
 
MSU VS. GEORGIA SERIES NOTES: This will be the first meeting between the two teams.
 
MORGAN VS. THE SOUTHEAST CONFERENCE: The Lady Bears are 0-5 all-time against members of the SEC. Here's how Morgan State has done against the conference: Alabama (0-1), Arkansas (0-1) and Auburn (0-1), Mississippi (0-1), Missouri (0-1). The Lady Bears have never met Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
NEXT UP: Following Sunday's contest at Georgia Tech, the Lady Bears will return home for their home opener against Wesley (11/18). Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Hill Field House. Last season Morgan State defeated the Wolverines, 90-55 in the first meeting between the two teams in Baltimore (11/20).
 
FOLLOW THE LADY BEARS ON TWITTER: Morgan State women's basketball fans can follow the Lady Bears on Twitter. Check out regular updates on the team which will feature live tweets from games and on road trips. To follow the Morgan State Athletics Twitter page visit Twitter.com/MorganStBears.
 
MORGAN PICKED LAST IN MEAC: Morgan State was picked to finish 13th in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) preseason poll, as voted by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. Last year, the Lady Bears were picked to finish sixth, but finished the season at 5-25 overall, 3-13 in the MEAC and finished 12th.
  
CARRINGTON NAMED TO PRESEASON MEAC FIRST TEAM: Senior guard Tracey Carrington was named to the Preseason All-MEAC first team. A native of Baltimore, Md., Carrington averaged 20.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game to lead the Lady Bears in both categories. She also led the team in assists (53) and ranked second on the team in steals with 40.
 
CARRINGTON RECEIVES MADNESS PRESEASON HONORS: Tracey Carrington was named College Sports Madness 2014-15 Preseason MEAC Player of the Year, as announced by the staff of College Sports Madness. Carrington was an All-MEAC first team selection by Madness College Sports at the conclusion of last season.
 
BEASLEY SIX WINS SHY OF SCHOOL RECORD: Entering his 10th year at the helm at Morgan State, head coach Donald Beasley enters the 2014-15 season needing six victories to become the program's all-time coaching leader. Beasley, who currently ranks second on the school's all-time list with a mark of 117-155. LaRue Fields (122-60 from 1979-85) is the school's all-time leader.
 
MORGAN IN SEASON OPENERS: The Lady Bears, who will open up the 2014-15 campaign on the road for the first time in three years, are 10-27 all-time in season openers dating back to 1977. Morgan State had lost 23 straight season openers, prior to winning three straight from 2006-08. Last season the Lady Bears opened up at home and suffered a 94-86 overtime loss to Lincoln-Pa.
 
WELCOME TO "THE A": The Lady Bears will be making just their second trip to Atlanta in ten years under head coach Donald Beasley when they square off against the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets on Sunday, Nov. 16. It will also be the Lady Bears' first trip back to the city also known as Hotlanta and The Big Peach since the 2009-10 season when Morgan State participated in the Georgia State Tournament. This will be the first meeting between Morgan State and Georgia Tech.
 
LADY BEARS TAKE IN NBA GAME: Before heading over to Athens, Ga., for its season-opener against the University of Georgia, the Morgan State women's basketball team spent the first night of their six-day road trip in Atlanta and attended the Atlanta Hawks-Utah Jazz game on Wednesday, Nov. 12 at Phillips Arena. The home team Hawks would hold on for a 100-97 victory.
 
BEWARE OF THE PAPA SMURF: Forget the Dougie and the Stanky Leg. Along the Morgan State sideline, it's all about the Beasley AKA "The Papa Smurf," which is Morgan State head coach Donald Beasley's sideline dance. Beasley's dance, which is subject to take place at any moment during a game, usually can be seen prior to the start of the second half during home games when the Morgan State band is playing or even on the road when the opposing band is playing or a good song is being pumped through the arena speakers. If you miss it during the course of the game, the 'Papa Smurf' has been known to make an encore appearance following signature victories.
 
IT'S HAPPENED BEFORE: Last season's five wins marked the second time in Donald Beasley's tenure at Morgan State that the squad won just five games. The last time that happened was in Beasley's his first season at the helm during the 2005-06 campaign, when the Lady Bears went 5-24. The very next season the team recorded 18 wins, which at the time set the school mark for wins on the Division I level and also reached the MEAC Championship game, just the third appearance in the title game in school history.
 
SOMEONE NEW: Morgan State has four opponents on its schedule (Georgia, Georgia Tech, Washington Adventist and Texas Tech) which it has never faced in the program's history.
 
REMATCH: The Lady Bears will have three rematch games this season against non-conference opponents from the 2013-14 schedule. Those opponents are Wesley, Stony Brook and Brown. Last season Morgan State went 1-2 against those opponents with its lone win coming over Wesley.
 
WELCOME BACK: Morgan State will welcome Savannah State back to its regular season schedule when it hosts the Lady Tigers on Feb. 2, 2015 at Hill Field House. Due to the MEAC's rotating schedule the two teams have not played each other in the regular season since Morgan State earned a 68-50 victory over Savannah State on Jan. 14, 2013 in Baltimore. However, the two teams did meet last season in the opening round of the MEAC Tournament, an 82-71 win by the Lady Tigers (3/10).
 
UNBEATEN STREAKS ON THE LINE: The Lady Bears enter the season with a perfect record against two of this season's opponents in New Jersey Institute of Technology (2-0) and Wesley (1-0). Morgan State will host Wesley in the Lady Bears' home opener on Nov. 18 and will face N.J.I.T on the road on Feb. 11.
 
TOURNAMENT EXPOSURE: Eight of Morgan State's 2014-15 opponents reached postseason play last season. Six opponents reached the 2014 Women's NCAA Tournament (Oklahoma State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Chattanooga and defending MEAC Tournament champion, Hampton). Two competed in the 2014 Women's National Invitational Tournament (Stony Brook and MEAC foe North Carolina A&T), while one (Bucknell) took part in the Women's Basketball Invitational.
 
TRACKING CARRINGTON: Tracey Carrington enters this season with 1,137 career points, which ranks ninth all-time at Morgan State. She is 54 points away from passing former Lady Bear Adrienne Bond (1,190 points from 1982-86) for eighth-place and need 438 more points to move into second all-time in scoring at Morgan State.
 
NOT SO HOME SWEET FEELING: The friendly confines of Hill Field House were not all that great to the Lady Bears last season. Morgan State concluded the 2013-14 regular season going 3-10 at home, following their 79-61 home finale loss to Florida A&M. Morgan State, which dropped its season and home opener in overtime (86-94) to Division II Lincoln-Pa., had lost seven straight home contests.
 
DOUBLE DUTY: Junior forward Dinah Jones has been going nonstop since stepping foot on the Morgan State campus in early August of 2012 for her freshman season. The 6-foot-1 native of Annapolis, Md. is also a three-year letterwinner on the Morgan State volleyball team. Jones averaged 5.2 points and was second on the team in rebounding (5.2) and third in steals (33) last season. She also added 20 assists and five blocks. This season on the volleyball court, she helped the Lady Bears to a 13-12 regular season mark, 6-6 in the MEAC Northern Division and the team's first appearance in the upcoming conference championship tournament since 2011. Thus far Jones leads the team in blocks with 60 and is third in kills with 197, both season-bests.
 
MORGAN STATE IN MEAC OPENERS: The Lady Bears, who will open up the 2014-15 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) slate on the road against Norfolk State (12/6), are 5-4 in MEAC openers under head coach Donald Beasley, following last season's home loss to Howard. This year's Norfolk State contest will mark just the fifth time in 16 season's that the Lady Bears will not open the MEAC season against crosstown rival Coppin State.
 
YOUTHFUL LADY BEARS: Morgan State will welcome the addition of nine newcomers to the 2014-15 squad with sophomore transfers, Jayde Duncan (Baltimore, Md.), Johnelle Green (Washington, D.C.) and Janelle Silver (Washington, D.C.) teaming up with six freshmen in Torri Chestnut (Bowie, Md.), Braennan Farrar (St. Louis, Mo.), Eva Myers (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Lexus Spears (Jacksonville, Fla.), Zuri White (Durham, N.C.) and Tykyrah Williams (Durham, N.C.).