Game 30 (MEAC Tournament Opening Round)
No. 7 Morgan State "Lady Bears" (11-18, 8-8 MEAC)
No. 10 Coppin State "Eagles" (6-21, 5-11 MEAC)
Date: March 10, 2015 / 2:30 p.m.
Place: Norfolk, Va. (Norfolk Scope Arena)
Series: Coppin State leads, 36-31
Live Video: ESPN3.com/WatchESPN App
Live Stats: meachoops.com
Audio: HSRN.com
 
Morgan State Notes | Coppin State Notes | MEAC Women's Bracket
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (March 8, 2015)-Morgan State, which closed out the regular season on a two-game winning streak to secure the seventh-seed, faces a familiar foe for its Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) opening round game in crosstown rival Coppin State, the 10th-seed. The Lady Bears and Eagles will meet for the third time this season when they meet on Tuesday, March 10 at 2:30 p.m. at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va. The Lady Bears swept the regular season series for the first time since the 2012-13 season. The game will air live on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN App.
 
BEAR CLAWS: Morgan State (11-18, 8-8 MEAC) are coming off a 65-50 road victory over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) on March 5. Morgan State's guard tandem of freshman Braennan Farrar and senior captain Tracey Carrington put on a scoring clinic in the win. Farrar, who was named to the All-MEAC Rookie Team this past Friday, set a career high in scoring in each of the final three games, scored a career– and game-high 30 points, including a career-high seven three-pointers, which ranks second on the single-game charts at Morgan State. Carrington, who was named to the All-MEAC second team, finished with 22 points, including four three-pointers, while juniors Dinah Jones and Simone Sampson each grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Morgan State has been led by Carrington, who is averaging 18.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Farrar is adding 14.2 points and leads the Lady Bears in assists (76) and steals (64). Dinah Jones leads the team in rebounding with 5.7 per contest, while freshman Lexus Spears (4.9 points) ranks second in rebounding with 5.1 per game. Morgan State is averaging 57.2 points per game, while surrendering 61.2 points per game.
 
EAGLE SCRATCHES: Coppin State (6-21, 5-11 MEAC) ended a three-game losing skid with a 79-51 win over Delaware State (3/5) in the finale. Senior Bria Harris, who was playing in her final home game of her career, recorded a double-double of a team-high 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Janelle Lane scored 17 points, while Amber Griffin notched a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds to go with a game-high seven assists. Jordan Swails finished with 11 points. The Eagles have been led by Swails, who is averaging 11 points, leads the team in steals with 46 and is second on the team with 5.9 rebounds. Lane is adding 10 points, averages 4.7 rebounds and is second in blocks with 21. Harris leads the team with 7.3 rebounds per game to go with 9.3 points. Griffin (7.9 points) leads the squad in assists with 92 and Omaah Tayong has a team-high 23 blocked shots.
 
MSU VS. COPPIN STATE SERIES NOTES: Coppin leads the all-time series, 36-31, but the Lady Bears have won three straight, including this season's series sweep, their first over Coppin since the 2012-13 season. Morgan State is a perfect 3-0 against the Eagles with the last meeting coming in the semifinals of the 2007 tournament. Morgan would go on to win, 69-67 in overtime to end a 14-game losing skid to Coppin State, as well as end the Eagles' 49-game winning streak against MEAC opponents. 
 
NEXT UP: If Morgan State defeats Coppin State, it will take on No. 2 Savannah State on Wednesday, March 11 at 2:30 p.m. Savannah State defeated Morgan in the only meeting this season, 72-58 in Baltimore (2/2). Last season the Lady Tigers, who were the fifth-seed, knocked off No. 12 Morgan State in the first round, 82-71 (3/10/14).
 
SAYING GOODBYE: Morgan State honored its senior guard Tracey Carrington last Saturday prior to the win over Coppin State (2/28). The Baltimore native was playing in her final home contest at Hill Field House. She finished with 19 points, grabbed four rebounds, had two assists and two steals to help the Lady Bears end a five-game losing streak. The win also helped Morgan State sweep the season series against Coppin State for the first time since the 2012-13 season. Unless the two teams meet during the MEAC Tournament, Carrington will end her career going 5-3 all-time against Coppin State.
 
CARRINGTON NAMED TO ALL-MEAC SECOND TEAM: Senior Tracey Carrington was named to the All-MEAC second team. It was her second straight all-conference honor. The Baltimore native, led the Lady Bears in scoring with 18.1 points per game and finished third on the team in rebounds with 4.7 per game. Carrington scored in double figures in 21 of the 22 games she played, while leading Morgan in scoring 14 times. She scored 20 points or more nine times, including a season-best 28 points against South Carolina State (2/9).
 
FARRAR EARNS ALL-MEAC ROOKIE TEAM HONORS: Morgan State freshman guard Braennan Farrar was named to the All-MEAC Rookie Team. A two-time MEAC Rookie of the Week selection, Farrar is second on the team in scoring at 14.2 points per game. She reached double figures in scoring 22 times and scored 20 or more points six times and led the team in scoring 13 times, while finishing with a team-leading 76 assists and a team-best 64 steals. A native of St. Louis, Mo., Farrar concluded the season averaging 26 points, while setting a career-high in points in each of her final three games. She scored a career-high 30 points and knocked down a career-best seven three pointers in the season finale at Maryland Eastern Shore (3/5).
 
FARRAR SCORES CAREER-HIGH 30 IN FINALE: Braennan Farrar scored a career-high 30 points in the season finale win at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (3/5). Farrar shot 10-of-22 from the floor and knocked down a career-high seven three-pointers. The 30 points marked the third consecutive game that she set a new career high and surpassed her previous high of 25 points against Coppin State (2/28).
 
FARRAR DRAINS A CARRER-HIGH SEVEN TREYS: Braennan Farrar knocked down a career-best seven three-pointers on 7-of-13 shooting in the season finale win at the UMES (3/5). The seven three-pointers rank second on the Morgan State single-game charts, one shy of former Lady Bear Bianca Jarrett's eight three-pointers during the 2012-13 season.
 
DOUBLING UP: Morgan State's win over Coppin State (2/28) gave the Lady Bears their 10th overall win, as well as their seventh MEAC victory of the season. Last season Morgan State finished with just five wins and had only three MEAC victories. The Lady Bears would finish the regular season with an 11-18 record and 8-8 in the MEAC, good for seventh-place.
 
SEPARATE BUT EQUAL: The Morgan State Lady Bears and the Bears have both struggled this season making shots, as both programs rank last in field goal percentage among all Division I women's and men's programs, respectively. The Lady Bears currently rank 343rd in field goal percentage (32.2), while the men's team ranks 345th at 35.4 percent. The Lady Bears shot a season-low 20.8 percent (11-of-53) against Hampton (2/16).
 
TRACKING CARRINGTON: Tracey Carrington entered the season with 1,137 career points, which ranked ninth all-time at Morgan State. Carrington, who now ranks third all-time in scoring at Morgan State, scored 22 points in the regular season finale against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (3/5) to give her 1,536 points for her career. The Baltimore native needs 39 points to move into second all-time in scoring. Carrington, who also ranks 10th in rebounding (567) and 11th all-time in steals (124).
 
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.
LOW POINT: Tracey Carrington was held to a season-low six points in the loss to Hampton (2/16). It ended a string of 58 consecutive games of scoring in double figures and was her lowest scoring total since being held to four points against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (3/2/13). Carrington, who is averaging a team-best 17.9 points, shot 2-for-11 and was 0-for-3 from beyond the three-point arc against Hampton.
 
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.
 
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 (127-170), 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).
 
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.