Game #15
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (3-11, 1-1 MEAC) vs. Delaware State "Hornets" (3-10, 0-0 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016 / 2 p.m.
Place: Baltimore, Md. (Hill Field House)
Series: Delaware State leads, 40-32
Live Stats: www.morganstatebears.com
Live Video: www.morganstatebears.com
Audio: WEAA 88.9 FM
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 7, 2016)-The Morgan State Lady Bears will host the Delaware State Hornets this Saturday afternoon in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) contest at 2 pm at Hill Field House. The contest will be the first league game of the 2016 season. Morgan State won last season's lone meeting, 64-56 in Dover, Del. (1/10/15), but trails the all-time series, 40-32.

BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears (3-11, 1-1 MEAC), who will stay in conference play the rest of the season, are coming off a 59-50 non-conference loss to the University of Missouri-Kansas City last Saturday at home. With the loss, Morgan State concluded the non-conference slate with a 2-10 record. Braennan Farrar scored a team-high 16 points and Lexus Spears added 13 points, a team-high six rebounds and had a game-high three steals for Morgan State. Benedicta Makakala recorded seven points and had a team-high five assists. The Lady Bears have been led by Farrar, who is contributing 13.6 points per game. Farrar also leads the squad in assists (35) and ranks second in steals with 19. Spears is adding 8.6 points and leads the team in rebounding with 6.7 boards per game. Zuri White ranks second with 6.0 rebounds.

HORNET STINGERS: Delaware State (3-10, 0-0 MEAC), which will be playing its first MEAC game of the season, enters Saturday's game on a two-game losing skid, following a 71-62 non-conference loss at Cornell on Wednesday in the final non-conference game of the season for the Hornets. Mikah Aldridge came off the bench and totaled a game-high 16 points and Amber Bogard also came off the bench and scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting. NaJai Pollard pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds in the loss.

LADY BEARS VS. DELAWARE STATE SERIES NOTES: Delaware State leads the all-time series, 40-32. Morgan State captured last season's lone meeting, defeating the Hornets 64-56 in Dover, Del.
 
NEXT UP: Morgan State will take to the road for the first time in 2016, when it visits the Lady Hawks of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday, Jan. 11. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m. at the Hytche Athletic Center in Princess Anne, Md. The contest will also be the first MEAC road game of the season for the Lady Bears. UMES leads the all-time series, 40-34, but the Lady Bears have won four of the past five meetings, including last year's season sweep.

SEARCHING FOR TWO: While the opportunities have been limited this season, the Lady Bears have yet to record back-to-back wins this season. Morgan's latest chance came last Saturday against UMKC. However, the Lady Bears would fall short in a 59-50 loss.

ROAD STRUGGLES: The Lady Bears have struggled on the road this season and are still in search of their first win away from Hill Field House. Morgan State is currently 0-8 away from home, including two neutral court losses during the Navy Classic (11/27-28) in Annapolis, Md. The Lady Bears have not won a road contest since last year's regular season finale against Maryland Eastern Shore (3/5/15) a 65-50 victory.
 
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 29.5 percent (250-of-847). 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 130-185 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.