Game 19 (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Contest)
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (6-12, 3-3 MEAC)
at Howard "Lady Bison" (2-16, 2-3 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015 / 2 pm
Place: Washington, D.C. (Burr Gymnasium)
Series: Howard leads, 49-16

MSU Game Notes  |  HU Game Notes
Audio: WEAA 88.9 FM  |  HRSN.com
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan 27, 2015)-The Lady Bears, who are coming off a season-long 12-day layoff since their last outing, returns to action with two critical Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) road contests to close out the first half of the league slate. Morgan State first travels to Washington, D.C. to visit Beltway rival Howard on Jan. 31 for a 2 p.m. contest at Burr Gymnasium, before battling crosstown rival Coppin State in round one of the annual "East vs. West" game on Monday, Feb. 2 at the Physical Education Complex. Tip-off for the Coppin State game will be at 4 p.m. due to the men's contest being televised live on ESPNU.
  
BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears (6-12, 3-3 MEAC) had their season-long four-game winning streak come to an end when they suffered a 55-48 home loss to Bethune-Cookman (1/19). The Lady Wildcats jumped out to a 12-0 lead nearly six minutes into the game and held a 28-19 advantage at halftime. Braennan Farrar scored a team-high 15 points for Morgan State, while Tracey Carrington added 12 points. Torri Chestnut came off the bench and scored a career-high nine points on 3-of-3 shooting from three-point range. Morgan State has been led by Carrington, who is scoring a team-leading 18.6 points per game and 5.0 rebounds per outing. Farrar is scoring 12.3 points and leads the team in both assists (49) and steals (35). Zuri White leads the Lady Bears in rebounding with 7.1 boards per contest, while Simone Sampson has a team-leading 10 blocked shots.
 
BISON HOOVES: Howard (2-16, 2-3 MEAC), losers of three straight and nine of its last 10 games, is coming off a 61-53 road loss at Bethune-Cookman (1/26). Imani Bailey scored a game-high 15 points and had a game-high four steals, while Sydni Johnson finished with 14 points and three steals. Victoria Gonzales tallied 12 points, while Cheyenne Brown had a team-high five rebounds. The Lady Bison forced 33 Bethune-Cookman turnovers and converted them into 30 points. Howard is led by Johnson, who is averaging 11.3 points and pulling down a team-leading 5.3 rebounds. Brown is averaging 10.7 points and Bailey (6.3 ppg) leads the team with 50 assists and 23 steals. Gonzales (8.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg) has a team-leading 24 blocks on the season.
 
MSU VS. HOWARD SERIES NOTES:  Howard leads the series, 49-16 and has won five of the past six meetings. The Lady Bison defeated Morgan State, 71-66 in Baltimore (1/4), but the Lady Bears returned the favor with a 59-58 victory in the regular season finale in Washington, D.C. (3/6).
 
BEASLEY BECOMES PROGRAM'S WINNINGEST COACH: Morgan State head coach Donald Beasley, who is in his 10th year at the helm of the Lady Bears, became the program's all-time coaching leader, following the win over Florida A&M (1/17). Beasley (123-167), who earned his sixth win of the season against FAMU, passed LaRue Fields (122-60 from 1979-85) as the school's all-time coaching leader for victories. Beasley recorded his first career victory in the 10th game of the 2005-06 season, following a 66-54 road win at Bethune-Cookman (1/9/06).
 
TRACKING CARRINGTON: Tracey Carrington entered the season with 1,137 career points, which ranked ninth all-time at Morgan State. Carrington, scored a 12 points in a loss to Bethune-Cookman (1/19) to give her 1,342 points for her career. A native of Baltimore, Carrington currently sits in sixth-place, 58 points shy of passing Kaira Warfield (1,409 from 1993-97) for fifth-place. She also needs 233 more points to move into second all-time in scoring at Morgan State.
 
TAKING A BREAK: The Lady Bears, who haven't played since their home loss to Bethune-Cookman (1/19), will end their season-long 12-day layoff when they return to the court against Howard (Jan. 31). It was 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 three assists against Bethune-Cookman (1/19), giving her a team-leading 49 assists in 18 games. Farrar recorded a season-high nine assists in the win over Wesley (11/18). As a team the Lady Bears recorded 19 assists in that game.
 
GIMME THAT: Freshman Zuri White has been a rebounding machine for the Lady Bears, as she leads Morgan State with 7.1 boards per outing. A native of Durham, N.C., White has reached double figures in four of the last six games, hauling in a total of 64 rebounds for an average of 10.6 per contest. White grabbed a season-best 14 boards against Brown (1/4).
 
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 7.1 boards per game, then set a career-high 14 rebounds (eight defensive) and had two assists and a steal against Brown (1/4).
  
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.
 
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.