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BALTIMORE, Md. (Nov. 23, 2015)-Morgan State will be faced with the tough task of ending its two-game losing skid when it faces the No. 25 Syracuse Orange on Monday in the Carrier Dome. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Syracuse, N.Y. and will be the home opener for Syracuse. The Orange have won 69 non-conference home games in-a-row, including a perfect 7-0 mark last season against non-conference foes. The last time Syracuse lost a home game was on Dec. 22, 2006 against Canisius, 56-42.
 
BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears (1-2) opened the 2015-16 season with a 74-36 non-conference victory over visiting Washington Adventist in Baltimore (11/15). But have since dropped two straight, including a 72-45 road loss at Brown on Saturday. The Lady Bears trailed by just a point at 8-7 after the first quarter. But the host Brown Bears out scored Morgan State 25-8 in the second period to take a 33-15 lead at the intermission. Danielle Robinson led Morgan State with 14 points, while Lexus Spears added seven. Ivy Harrington came off the bench to finish with a team-high five rebounds to go with six points.
  
A LOOK AT THE ORANGE: No. 25 Syracuse (1-1) is coming off a 57-55 road loss to No. 4/5 Tennessee on Friday, Nov. 20 in Knoxville, Tenn. Alexis Peterson led all scorers with 19 points and matched her personal-high with seven rebounds. Brittney Sykes and Brianna Butler added 13 and 10 points, respectively. Cornelia Fondren pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Sykes, who  recorded two steals, got a steal with 12 seconds left to give the Orange its final chance to tie the score. However, with six seconds remaining with two free throw attempts, Sykes missed the first and intentionally missed the second free throw. But Syracuse could not come up with the ball and the Lady Volunteers held on for the win. The Orange would miss four 3-point field goals in the final 2:43 of the game.
 
MSU VS. SYRACUSE SERIES NOTES: This will be the first meeting between the two teams.
 
MORGAN VS. THE ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE: The Lady Bears are a combined 2-16 against members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Here's how Morgan State has faired against the ACC: Duke (0-1), Georgia Tech (0-1), Miami (0-2), North Carolina State (0-1), Notre Dame (2-0), Pittsburgh (0-3), Virginia (0-4) and Wake Forest (0-4). The Lady Bears have never met Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina, Syracuse or Virginia Tech. This year Morgan will face both Syracuse (Nov. 23) and Virginia Tech (Dec. 9).
 
NEXT UP: Morgan State will return to the State of Maryland to take part in the Navy Classic (Nov. 27-28) in Annapolis. The Lady Bears will open up with Colorado State with a 3:30 contest on Friday, before facing either host Navy or Siena on Saturday.
 
MAKE IT A DOUBLE: Sophomore Braennan Farrar recorded a double-double in the season opening win over Washington Adventist (11/15). The St. Louis, Mo. native tallied a game-high 22 points, while adding a career– and game-high 12 assists against the Lady Shock.
 
PROVIDING ASSISTANCE: Braennan Farrar dished out a career-best 12 assists against Washington Adventist (11/15). It surpassed her previous high of nine assists set last season against Wesley (11/18/14).
 
MORGAN IN SEASON OPENERS: The Lady Bears improved to 11-28 all-time in season openers dating back to 1977, following its 74-36 home victory over Washington Adventist (11/15). It was the first season opening win for the Lady Bears in three years, since a 72-61 home victory over the University of Maryland Baltimore County (11/9/12). Morgan State at one point had lost 23 straight season openers, prior to winning three straight from 2006-08. Last season the Lady Bears opened up on the road and suffered a 68-32 loss to Georgia (11/14/14).
 
MORGAN PICKED NINTH IN MEAC: Morgan State was picked to finish ninth 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 last (13th), but put together an 11-19 overall mark and finished 8-8 in the MEAC to finish seventh.
  
FARRAR NAMED TO PRESEASON MEAC SECOND TEAM: Sophomore guard Braennan Farrar was named to the Preseason All-MEAC second team. A native of St. Louis, Mo., Farrar was second on the team in scoring (13.9), while leading the Lady Bears in assists with 2.6 per game. She also led the team in steals (67) and three-pointers made (45).
 
BEASLEY ALL-TIME COACHIING LEADER: Morgan State head coach Donald Beasley, who is in his 11th year at the helm of the Lady Bears, became the program's all-time coaching leader last season. Beasley, who surpassed LaRue Fields (122-60 from 1979-85), as the winningest coach (123-166), following a 57-50 win over Florida A&M (1/17/15), currently holds a 129-177 all-time record at Morgan State. 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).
 
DOUBLE DUTY: Senior 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 13-15 mark, 9-3 in the MEAC Northern Division, which was good for second-place. Over the weekend the Lady Bears would reach the semifinals of the conference tournament for the first time since the 2007 season, before falling to Bethune-Cookman in three sets on Saturday, Nov. 21.
 
SOMEONE NEW: Morgan State has six opponents (Syracuse, Colorado State, Siena, Robert Morris, Virginia Tech, Missouri-Kansas City) on this year's schedule which it has never faced before in the program's history.
 
REMATCH: The Lady Bears will have three rematch games this season against non-conference opponents from the 2014-15 schedule. Those opponents are Washington Adventist, Stony Brook, Brown and Bucknell. Last season Morgan State went 1-3 against those opponents with its lone win coming over Washington Adventist.
 
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.
 
UNBEATEN STREAK ON THE LINE: Morgan State enters the season with a perfect record against one of this season's opponent in Washington Adventist (1-0). Morgan State will face the Shock in the home and season opener on Nov. 15.
 
TOURNAMENT EXPOSURE: Seven of Morgan's 2015-16 opponents reached postseason play last season. Three opponents reached the 2015 Women's NCAA Tournament (James Madison, Syracuse and defending MEAC Tournament champion, Savannah State). Two competed in the 2015 Women's National Invitational Tournament (Colorado State and MEAC foe Hampton), while two (Siena and Stony Brook) took part in the Women's Basketball Invitational. Siena would reach the title games of the WBI, eventually falling to Louisiana Lafayette by two points.