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Morgan State "Lady Bears" (2-7)
at Virginia Tech "Hokies" (7-1)
Date: December 9, 2015 | 7 p.m.
Site: Blacksburg, Va. (Cassell Coliseum)
Series: First Meeting
 
BLACKSBURG, Va. (Dec. 8, 2015)-The Morgan State women's basketball team heads to Blacksburg, Va. for a non-conference game against the Virginia Tech Hokies on Wednesday night. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. at Cassell Coliseum. This will be the first meeting between the two programs.
 
BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears (2-7) are coming off a 51-65 loss at home to Hampton on Monday. Braennan Farrar led Morgan State with a team-high 16 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Lexus Spears and Zuri White each finished with nine points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, while Tykyrah Williams also scored nine points and had a game-high five steals. It was the 11th straight loss to Hampton. Farrar has paced the Lady Bears with 13.8 points per game and Williams is adding 8.9 points. Spears (8.7 points) and White lead Morgan State with 6.1 rebounds per outing.
 
A LOOK AT THE HOKIES: Virginia Tech (7-1) defeated then-ranked No. 8 Tennessee, 57-43 on the road on (12/6). Vanessa Panousis scored a team-high 21 points, including 5-of-8 from there-point range. Panousis would earn espnW National Player of the Week honor, as well as ACC Player of the Week honors for her performance. Regan Magarity tallied 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals, while Chanette Hicks added nine points, seven rebounds and three steals. The Hokies are led by Panousis (13.5 points) and Hicks is contributing 10 points per game and has a team-high 25 steals. Magarity leads the team with 7.4 rebounds per game.
 
MSU VS. VIRGINIA TECH SERIES NOTES: This will be the first meeting. Morgan State is a combined 2-17 against members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), including a 90-61 loss earlier this season at then No. 23 Syracuse (11/23/15).
 
NEXT UP: The Lady Bears will return home to take on the University of Maryland Baltimore County in a non-conference game on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. at Hill Field House.
 
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.
 
FARRAR NAMED MEAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Braennan Farrar was named MEAC Player of the Week as announced by the league office on Monday. Farrar scored 20 of her career-high 33 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Lady Bears to a win over Norfolk State (12/5). She finished the game shooting 12-of-23 from the floor, connecting on 8-of-11 free throws to go with five rebounds, a game-high five assists and a game-high three steals.
 
STARTING AT THE BOTTOM: The Lady Bears currently rank last (344th) in the nation in field goal percentage at 30.1 percent (162-of-539). Last season Morgan State finished the 2014-15 campaign also in last place (443rd) in field goal percentage.
 
FARRAR SETS CAREER-HIGH: Braennan Farrar scored a career-high 33 points on 12-of-23 shooting and connected on 8-of-11 from the free throw line in the win over Norfolk State. Farrar also added five rebounds, a game-high five assists and a game-high three steals. Her 33 points surpassed her previous career-high of 30 points she scored last season in the regular season finale at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (3/5/15).
 
MORGAN STATE IN MEAC OPENERS: The Lady Bears, who will open up the 2015-16 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) slate at home against Norfolk State (12/5), are 5-5 in MEAC openers under head coach Donald Beasley, following last season's road loss to Norfolk State. This year's Norfolk State contest will mark just the sixth time in 17 season's that the Lady Bears will not open the MEAC season against crosstown rival Coppin State.
 
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 129-181 all-time record at Morgan State.

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. 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.