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Game 10 (Non-Conference)
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (2-7) vs. Campbell "Camels" (6-3)
Date: December 20, 2016 | 5:30 p.m. EST
Place: San Juan, Puerto Rico | Roberto Clemente Coliseum
Series: Campbell leads, 1-0
Audio: Campbell Radio
 
Game 11 (Non-Conference)
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (2-7) vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff "Golden Lions" (2-7)
Date: December 21, 2016 | 5:30 p.m. EST
Place: San Juan, Puerto Rico | Roberto Clemente Coliseum
Series: First Meeting
 
SAN JUAN, P.R. (Dec. 20, 2016)-The Morgan State women's basketball team will play outside the continental US for its next two contests, as they take part in the Puerto Rico Classico (Dec. 20-21) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The trip will also mark the first time the program will be playing in Puerto Rico. The Lady Bears open up the tournament against Campbell on Tuesday, Dec. 20, before taking on Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Wednesday, Dec. 21. Tip-off for both games is 5:30 p.m. EST and will be played at Roberto Clemente Coliseum.
 
BEAR CLAWS: Morgan State (2-7) dropped its first home game of the 2016-17 campaign on Sunday, following a 58-44 loss to Robert Morris. Tykyrah Williams led Morgan State with a game-high 19 points, but it wasn't enough. Leading scorer Braennan Farrar was held to just six points before fouling out. Williams also recorded eight rebounds, three steals and had two blocked shots, all which were game highs. Farrar leads the team in scoring at 14.4 per game, while Williams is adding 10.9 per contest and is the team's leading rebounder with 5.8 boards per game. Morgan State is averaging 53.7 points per game, while its opponents are scoring 59.5 per game.
 
A LOOK AT CAMPBELL: The Camels (6-3) enter the contest coming off a 51-31 victory over the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Monday's opener of the Puerto Rico Classico. The victory extended their season-long winning streak to three straight. Campbell, which never trailed in the game, led 18-3 after the first quarter and held a 28-9 advantage at the break. Summer Price led the way with a game-high 15 points, while Bria Emanuel came off the bench to score 12 points. Makala Rouse finished with a game-high 16 rebounds. Price leads the Camels in scoring at 12.2 per game, while Rouse is adding 9.2. Brianna Cribb is hauling in a team-leading 7.0 rebounds per outing.
 
MSU VS. CAMPBELL SERIES NOTES: Campbell leads the all-time series, 1-0. The Camels defeated Morgan State, 70-66 in the opening round of the Longwood Classic (11/16/07) in Farmville, Va.
 
A LOOK AT ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF: UAPB (2-7) had its season-long two-game winning streak snapped, following a 51-31 loss to Campbell in the opener of the Puerto Rico Classico on Monday evening. The Golden Lions trailed 28-9 at the intermission and were limited to just three points in the first quarter. Niya Head scored a team-high nine points and Shawntayla Harris grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds to lead the Golden Lions. UAPB is led by Head, who is averaging 13.1 points per game. Destiny Brewton is averaging 8.9 points and leads the Golden Lions in assists (25) and steals (11). Shawntayla Harris and Head lead the squad in rebounding with 5.6 per outing.
 
MSU VS. UAPB SERIES NOTES: This will be the first meeting.
 
WILLIAMS COMES UP BIG: Tykyrah Williams was perhaps the only bright spot in Sunday's loss to Robert Morris. The junior forward scored a game-high 19 points, grabbed eight rebounds, had four assists, three steals and added two blocks, all of which were game highs.

THAT'S A FIRST: Foul trouble plagued Breannan Farrar against Robert Morris (12/18) and she would eventually foul out for just the first time in her career. A native of St. Louis, Mo., Farrar, who is averaging 33 minutes per game, would finish with just six points on 2-of-5 shooting from three-point range in 19 minutes of action.

PROTECTING HOME: Morgan State suffered its first home loss of the 2016-17 season on Sunday to Robert Morris. The loss dropped the Lady Bears to 1-1 at Hill Field House. Morgan State will have another chance for a home win before the year is out when it entertains Brown in a New Year's Eve match-up at noon on Dec. 31.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: Morgan State currently ranks 15^th in the nation in turnover margin at 7.22. Ole Miss sits ahead of the Lady Bears at 14^th at 7.27 and Maryland ranks 16^th at 7.18. Syracuse leads the nation at 10.55.

IT TAKES A THEIF: The Lady Bears have recoded 104 steals as a team in nine games played thus far. Last season Morgan State recorded 249 steals in 30 games. Breannan Farrar leads the way with a team-best 26, while Tykyrah Williams has 15 steals. Chelsea Mitchell and Jihayah Chavis are adding 12 and 11 steals, respectively.


NEXT UP: The Lady Bears will travel to Richmond, Va. to take on the Richmond Spiders on Tuesday, Dec. 27 at 6 p.m., before returning home to close out 2016 and its non-conference schedule against Brown on Saturday, Dec. 31. Tip-off is at noon at Hill Field House.
 
MORGAN ENDS LOSING SKID: The Lady Bears put an end to their season-long five-game losing skid with a 69-61 victory over UMBC (12/7). The defeat of the Retrievers also ended a two-game losing streak to UMBC and improved Morgan State's all-time record to 12-13 against UMBC.
 
CHAVIS PUTS UP CAREER-HIGHS: Making her fourth consecutive start of the season, freshman guard Jihayah Chavis had a career high night in the Lady Bears win over rival UMBC (12/7). The Newark, N.J. native scored a career-high 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-7 from three-point range. Chavis also set career highs in steals (3) and assists (4).
 
HARRINGTON PROVIDES SPARK AGAINST UMBC: Senior guard Ivy Harrington provided a much needed spark off the bench in the win over UMBC (12/7). The Neptune, N.J. native finished with seven points on 2-2 shooting from the floor and added 3-of-4 at the free throw line. She also pulled down four rebounds and had a steal in 18 minutes of play. Her offensive rebound and put back gave the Lady Bears a 62-59 lead with 43 seconds remaining in the game and Morgan State never looked back.
 
FARRAR NAMED TO PLAZA LIGHTS ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Braennan Farrar was named to the Plaza Lights All-Tournament team (Nov. 25-26). Farrar scored a combined 41 points, had five rebounds, six steals and four assists in two games. She finished with a game-high 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting and added three steals and an assist against host University of Missouri-Kansas City (11/26).
 
GETTING DEFENSIVE: Morgan has forced 188 opponent turnovers in eight games, with 104 of them coming by way of steals. In the win against Washington Adventist (11/17), the Lady Bears forced a season-high 31 turnovers, a season-best 21 of them were steals. Morgan State converted those turnovers into 33 points.
 
DAVIS BACK IN THE WIN COLUMN: It took interim head coach Edward Davis just two games to earn his first victory as the coach of Morgan State, when the Lady Bears defeated Washington Adventist (11/17). The win marked the first for Davis since he recorded a 55-53 victory over South Carolina State in the season finale on March 1, 2012, in his final season as the head coach at Delaware State.
 
PUTTING THE CLAMPS DOWN: The Lady Bears' defense held the visiting Shock of Washington Adventist (11/17) to just three points in the second quarter and nine for the entire first half. The three points scored by WAU were the lowest points output in a quarter by a Morgan State opponent since the NCAA went to the quarter system in the women's game. The nine total points in the first half, were the lowest since Morgan State held rival Coppin State to 13 first half points on Dec. 14, 2010.
 
BACK ON THE SIDELINE: Morgan State interim head coach Edward Davis, returns to the sideline for the 2016-17 campaign as the head man, after spending the last four seasons as an assistant coach with the Lady Bears. Davis, who last served as a head coach in 2012 to conclude 12 season's at the helm of Delaware State, currently is in his 21st season and has a career record of 351-244.
 
MORGAN PICKED FIFTH IN MEAC: Morgan State was picked to finish fifth 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 ninth, but put together an 13-17 overall mark and finished 10-6 in the MEAC to finish fifth.
 
FARRAR NAMED TO PRESEASON MEAC SECOND TEAM: MSU junior 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 (13.7), while leading the Lady Bears in assists (98), steals (63), three-pointers made (46), while shooting a team-best .794 (104-131) from the free throw line. This is the second consecutive preseason second-team All-MEAC honor for Farrar, who last season was named to the 2015-16 All-MEAC second team at the conclusion of the season.
  
2017 MEAC TOURNAMENT: The 2017 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men's and women's basketball tournament is scheduled for March 6-11 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.