Game 17 (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Contest)
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (5-11, 2-2 MEAC)
vs. Florida A&M "Lady Rattlers" (4-11, 1-2 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015 / 2 pm
Place: Baltimore, Md. (Hill Field House)
Series: FAMU leads, 33-10
MSU Notes    FAMU Notes
Live Stats
Audio
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan 14, 2015)- The Lady Bears will look for their first three-game winning streak of the season this weekend as they welcome Florida A&M to Hill Field House on Saturday, Jan. 17 for a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference match-up at 2 p.m. The Lady Rattlers will be making their third consecutive trip to Hill Field House, having split the previous two contests. This will be the 44th meeting between the two teams with FAMU holding a 33-10 all-time series lead.
 
BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears (5-11, 2-2 MEAC) recorded their first two-game winning streak of the season, following a 72-62 victory over visiting Maryland Eastern Shore (1/12). The win ended a two-game home losing skid for the Lady Bears, while the loss was the first in league play for the Lady Hawks, who entered the contest in a first-place tie with defending champion Hampton in the league standings. Senior Tracey Carrington led Morgan State with a game-high 24 points and added five rebounds and a game-high three steals. Freshman Braennan Farrar and sophomore Danielle Robinson each tallied 11 points and freshman Zuri White pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds in the win. The Lady Bears have been paced by Carrington (20.3 points, 5.2 rebounds per game) and Farrar, who is scoring 11.8 points and leads the team in assists (45) and steals (32). White is averaging a team-leading 7.1 rebounds per game.
 
SNAKE VENOM: The Lady Rattlers (4-11, 1-2 MEAC), who are on a season-long four-game losing streak, are coming off an 80-52 home loss to defending MEAC champion Hampton (1/12). Taneka Rubin scored a team-high 18 points and added seven rebounds, while Olivia Antilla finished with 12 points in the loss. Antilla is averaging 12 points per game to lead three FAMU players in double figures scoring. Rubin is scoring 10.1 points per game, while Kenya Dixon was contributing 10 points per outing in the eight games she played. Khaderja Young, who leads the Lady Rattlers in rebounding (5.7), assists (63) and steals (40), is chipping in with 9.9 points per game. FAMU enters the game averaging 55.6 points per game, while surrendering 67.2 points to its opponents.
 
MSU VS. FAMU SERIES NOTES: Morgan State has won seven of the last nine meetings, but the Lady Rattlers lead the all-time series, 33-10. Last season FAMU defeated the Lady Bears 79-61 (3/3/14). to end a six-game losing skid to Morgan State. The Lady Rattlers will be making their third consecutive trip to Hill Field House. The Lady Bears and FAMU have not played in Tallahassee, Fla., since March 1, 2012, an 88-57 victory by FAMU.
   
NEXT UP: The Lady Bears will host the Lady Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman on Monday, Jan. 19 in a MEAC contest at 2 p.m. at Hill Field House. Morgan State leads the series, 27-26.
 
BEASLEY ONE WIN AWAY OF SETTING SCHOOL RECORD: Morgan State head coach Donald Beasley, who is in his 10th year at the helm of the Lady Bears, is now one win away of becoming the program's all-time coaching leader. Beasley (122-166), who on Monday earned his fifth win of the season against UMES, tied LaRue Fields (122-60 from 1979-85) as the school's all-time leader.
 
TRACKING CARRINGTON: Tracey Carrington entered this season with 1,137 career points, which ranked ninth all-time at Morgan State. For the second consecutive game Carrington scored a game-high 24 points in the win over UMES (1/12) to give her 1,320 points for her career. A native of Baltimore, Carrington currently sits in sixth-place, 90 points shy of passing Kaira Warfield (1,409 from 1993-97) for fifth-place. She also needs 255 more points to move into second all-time in scoring at Morgan State.
 
GIMME THAT: Freshman Zuri White has been a rebounding machine for Morgan State, as she leads the Lady Bears with 7.1 boards per outing. Over the past two weeks, the Durham, N.C. native has reached double figures in rebounding in all four games, hauling in a total of 50 rebounds for an average of 12.5 per contest. White grabbed a season-best 14 boards against Brown (1/4).
 
TAKING A BREAK: The Lady Bears, who wrap up their three-game homestand against Bethune-Cookman on Monday, Jan. 1, will have a 12-day layoff before their next game in Washington, D.C. against the Lady Bison of Howard (1/31). It will be the longest time between games this season for Morgan State, surpassing the previous 11-day break it had from Dec. 21-Jan. 1.
 
PROVIDING ASSISTANCE: Braennan Farrar added a game-high three assists against UMES (1/12), giving her a team-leading 45 assists in 16 games. Farrar recorded a season-high nine assists against Wesley (11/18). As a team the Lady Bears recorded 19 assists in that game.
 
WELCOME HOME: Morgan State assistant coach Ed Davis made his third return to Memorial Hall (1/10) and helped the Lady Bears go 3-0 in Dover, Del. against the Hornets. Davis, who served as head coach of the Hornets for 12 seasons, concluded his career at Delaware State's as the program's winningest coach with a 178-182 mark. He guided the Hornets to a MEAC Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth in 2007, a MEAC regular season co-championship (2003-04), five MEAC championship game appearances and the only 20-win seasons (four) in team history.
 
WHITE NAMED MEAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: MSU freshman Zuri White was named MEAC Defensive Player of the Week by the league office on Jan. 6. The Durham, N.C. native totaled 26 rebounds, 11 points, two assists and three steals to help the Lady Bears to a 1-1 week. The 5-foot-8 guard grabbed a then career-high 12 rebounds (five defensive) and added two steals and scored nine points in a win over UMBC (1/1). It was Morgan State's first win over a Division I opponent this season. White, who leads the Lady Bears in rebounding with 6.4 boards per game, then set a career-high 14 rebounds (eight defensive) and had two assists and a steal against Brown (1/4).
 
A NEW YEAR: Morgan State began the 2015 portion of its schedule on the road against crosstown rival the University of Maryland Baltimore County (1/1) and earned a 54-46 victory. The Lady Bears improved to 4-6 in their first game of the new year under the direction of head coach Donald Beasley. Prior to the UMBC win, Morgan State's last win to start the new year was a 56-46 win at home over Howard (1/8/11).
 
REMATCH: The Lady Bears had three rematch games this season against non-conference opponents from the 2013-14 schedule. Those opponents were Wesley, Stony Brook and Brown. Last season Morgan State went 1-2 against those opponents with its lone win coming over Wesley. This season the Lady Bears again finished 1-2 with the lone victory once again coming against Wesley (1/18).
  
2015 MEAC TOURNAMENT: The 2014 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) men's and women's basketball tournament is scheduled for March 9-14 at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va. Ticket books can be purchased at all 13 MEAC university ticket offices, the Norfolk Scope Arena, Ticketmaster outlets, the MEAC Administrative Office and online at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets are also available by calling the MEAC at 757-951-2055 or Ticketmaster at (800)-745-3000. The annual MEAC Basketball Tournament moved to Norfolk after spending the previous four years in Winston-Salem, N.C. from 2009 through 2012.