Gameday
Game #14
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (3-10) vs. Missouri Kansas City "Kangaroos" (4-8)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016 / 2 p.m.
Place: Baltimore, Md. (Hill Field House)
Series: First Meeting
Live Stats: www.morganstatebears.com
Audio: www.HSRN.com
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 2, 2016)-The Morgan State Lady Bears will welcome the Kangaroos of the University of Missouri Kansas City to Hill Field House on Saturday for the first contest of 2016 for both teams. It will also be the final non-conference game of the season for Morgan State, which will be searching for its first two-game winning streak of the season.
 
BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears (3-10) have not played since a 60-54 victory over Bucknell (12/22) to end a four-game losing skid. Morgan State, which led the entire game, was led by Lexus Spears, who recorded a double-double of 15 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. Braennan Farrar added a game-high 16 points, as the Lady Bears ended a four-game losing skid to close out 2015. Zuri White finished with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting and added six rebounds to help the Lady Bears to a 41-32 rebounding advantage. Farrar has paced the Lady Bears with 13.3 points per game, a team-leading 18 steals and 34 assists. Tykyrah Williams (7.9 ppg) and Spears (7.8 ppg, 6.1 rebounds per outing) have contributed offensively for the Lady Bears. White leads the team in rebounding with 6.3 boards per game. 
 
UMKC NOTES: The Kangaroos (4-8), losers of two straight, are coming off a 70-47 loss at Towson (12/30). Aries Washington led UMKC with nine points and six rebounds, while Sierra Bone finished with a career-high eight assists, two rebounds and a block. Kiana Law came off the bench to score eight points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Paige Husa added eight points and six rebounds as a reserve. Washington leads the team in scoring with 11.5 points per game to go with 5.0 rebounds and a team-high 27 assists. Law (10.5 points) leads UMKC in rebounding with 6.9 per outing to go with a team-best 14 steals.
 
MSU VS. UMKC SERIES NOTES: This will be the first meeting between the two teams. The Lady Bears have never faced any of the current members of the Western Athletic Conference.
 
NEXT UP: The Lady Bears will return to MEAC play when they host the Hornets of Delaware State on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 2 p.m.
 
THE PURGE: Whether it's a big scoring run, or huge scoring outputs in a quarter, Morgan State opponents have been having their way with the Lady Bears so far this season. While predicting which quarter it will be is unknown, knowing its going to happen, thus far this season is a given. In the loss to UMBC (12/12), it would be the third quarter, which the Lady Bears saw a 30-26 lead turn into a 52-30 deficit, as the Retrievers scored 26 straight points and held MSU scoreless during a seven minute span. UMBC would score 32 points in the third quarter to surpass the previous opponent high for points in a quarter of 31 points the Lady Bears gave up to then No. 23 Syracuse in the fourth quarter on Nov. 23.
 
STARTED AT THE BOTTOM: The Lady Bears currently rank last (344th) in the nation in field goal percentage at 29.1 percent (228-of-783). Last season Morgan State finished the 2014-15 campaign also in last place (343rd) in field goal percentage.
 
FARRAR NAMED MEAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Braennan Farrar was named MEAC Player of the Week as announced by the league office on Nov. 7. 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).
 
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 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 SCHOOL RECORD: 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, holds a career mark of 130-184 all-time at Morgan State.
 
2016 MEAC TOURNAMENT: The 2016 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) men's and women's basketball tournament is scheduled for March 7-12 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 in 2013 after spending the previous four years in Winston-Salem, N.C. from 2009 through 2012.