Game 24 (MEAC Contest)
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (9-14, 6-4 MEAC)
vs. Norfolk State (8-14, 7-4 MEAC)
Date: February 14, 2015 / 2 p.m.
Place: Baltimore, Md. (Hill Field House)
Series: Norfolk State leads, 19-13
Live Video: morganstatebears.com
Live Stats: morganstatebears.com
Audio: HSRN.com / WEAA 88.9 FM
 
Morgan State Notes | Norfolk State Notes


BALTIMORE, Md. (Feb. 13, 2015)-Morgan State returns to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play this weekend when they host third-place Norfolk State on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 2 p.m., before facing defending league champion Hampton on Monday, Feb. 16 at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Bears dropped both contests earlier this season in Virginia.
   
BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears (9-14, 6-4 MEAC) dropped their final non-conference game of the season on the road at New Jersey Institute of Technology, 52-49 on Wednesday. The loss was the Lady Bears' first to the Highlanders in the series' three meetings, all played in Newark, N.J. Morgan State ended its 2014-15 non-conference slate with a 3-10 record. Tracey Carrington scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the loss. Braennan Farrar finished with 10 points and Dinah Jones hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds. The Lady Bears have been led in scoring by its senior captain, Carrington, who is averaging 19.3 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per outing. Farrar is scoring 12.7 points and leads the team in both assists (61) and steals (49). Spears is adding 5.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while Danielle Robinson (5.2 ppg) is tied with Simone Sampson for the team lead in blocks with 11. The Lady Bears are scoring 57.1 points per game, while allowing 60.7 points.
 
SPARTAN LEGION: The Spartans (8-14, 7-4 MEAC) are coming off a 60-50 loss at home to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday, Feb. 9 at Echols Hall. The loss ended a two-game winning streak for Norfolk State. Rae Corbo scored a game-high 17 points and Koryn Lawrence added 13 points. Kayla Roberts, who earned MEAC Rookie of the Week honors, grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds to go with seven points. It was her sixth league rookie of the week honor this season. Corbo leads Norfolk State with 21.1 points per game to lead three Spartan players in double figures scoring. She also leads the team in steals with 27 and is second in assists with 58. Kayla Roberts is averaging 11.8 points and leads the squad in rebounding with 9.7 per contest. Kayla Roberts is second on the team in steals with 23 and is tied with Nia Roberts (8.4 rpg, 6.6 ppg) with a team-leading 15 blocks. Lawrence is averaging 10.6 points per game and Jazamine Gray has a team-high 102 assists. The Spartans are averaging 62.4 points per game, while surrendering 64 points.
 
MSU VS. NORFOLK STATE SERIES NOTES: Norfolk State leads the all-time series, 19-13. The Spartans have won four of the last five meetings, including a 68-63 victory over Morgan State earlier this season in Norfolk, Va. (12/6).
 
NEXT UP: The Lady Bears, will close out their two-game homestand on Monday, Feb. 16, when they host defending MEAC champion and league leader Hampton. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Hill Field House.
 
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 (126-169), 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).
 
A ROUGH GO: Morgan State concluded its 2014-15 non-conference slate with a 52-49 loss at NJIT (2/11). The loss dropped the Lady Bears to 3-10 in non-conference action. The loss was the second straight non-conference defeat for Morgan State, which dropped eight of their last nine non-conference games.
 
UNBEATEN STREAKS ON THE LINE: The Lady Bears entered the season with a perfect record against two of this season's opponents in Wesley (1-0) and New Jersey Institute of Technology (2-0). Morgan State improved to 2-0 against Wesley, following a 90-50 victory over the Wolverines in the Lady Bears' home opener on Nov. 18. The Lady Bears however would suffer their first lost to NJIT in three meetings, following a 52-49 loss on Feb. 11.
 
TRACKING CARRINGTON: Tracey Carrington entered the season with 1,137 career points, which ranked ninth all-time at Morgan State. Carrington, scored a game-high 21 points against New Jersey Institute of Technology (2/11) to give her 1,446 points for her career. A native of Baltimore, she ranks fourth in scoring at Morgan State and is 19 points shy of passing Shakira Smith (1,464 from 1997-01) for third-place. She also needs 129 more points to move into second all-time in scoring at Morgan.
 
FARRAR SETS SEASON-HIGH IN SCORING: Braennan Farrar scored a career-high 22 points in a 62-53 victory over crosstown rival Coppin State (2/2). The 22 points surpassed her previous scoring high of 21 points in a heartbreaking 50-48 home loss against Stony Brook (12/13).
 
CARRINGTON MOVING UP: Tracey Carrington recorded two steals in the win over South Carolina State (2/9), giving her 118 for her career and move past Erin Hawkins (117 steals from 2009-11) for 12th-place at Morgan State. She grabbed six rebounds at NJIT (2/11) to give her 546 for her career, and is now two rebounds shy of moving past Kimberly Harris (547 rebounds from 1998-01) for 11th all-time on the Lady Bear charts.
 
PROVIDING ASSISTANCE: Braennan Farrar added two assists in the NJIT game (2/11), giving her a team-leading 61 assists in 23 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.
 
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 five-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.
 
MORGAN IN SEASON OPENERS: The Lady Bears, who opened up the 2014-15 campaign on the road for the first time in three years, fell to 10-28 all-time in season openers dating back to 1977, following its 68-32 setback at Georgia (11/14). 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 at home and suffered a 94-86 overtime loss to Division II Lincoln-Pa.
 
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.
 
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.