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Game 12 (Non-Conference)
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (2-9) vs. Richmond "Spiders" (5-7)
Date: December 27, 2016 | 6 p.m.
Place: Richmond, Va. | Robins Center
Series: Richmond leads, 5-0
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Dec. 26, 2016)-The Morgan State women's basketball team will return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 27, when it travels to Richmond, Va. to take on the University of Richmond at 6 p.m. at Robins Center. This will be the sixth meeting between the two teams with the Spiders winning the previous five games. Morgan State and Richmond last played during the 2009-10 season.
 
BEAR CLAWS: Morgan State (2-9) enters the contest on a three-game losing slide, following a 53-44 loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the finale of the Puerto Rico Classico in San Juan, Puerto Rico (12/21). Zuri White, Braennan Farrar and Tykyrah Williams all finished with 10 points. Farrar also finished with a game-high four steals, Williams had a team-high three assists and White grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Morgan State has been led by Farrar, who is scoring a team-best 14.7 points and leads the Lady Bears in assists (33) and steals (30). Williams leads the team with 5.5 rebounds, while adding 10.6 points and 20 steals, which both rank second on the team. The contest will be the third and final one this season against members of the Atlantic 10. Morgan State has already lost road games to Saint Louis and Dayton.
 
A LOOK AT RICHMOND: Richmond (5-7) is coming off a 54-48 win at Furman (12/20). Richmond ended a four-game losing skid with the win. Lauren Tolson scored a game-high 14 points and Jaide Hinds-Clarke and Micaela Parson each added 10 points in the win. Tolson also had a game-best four steals and Hinds-Clarke finished with a team-high seven rebounds. Janelle Hubbard leads the Spiders with 12.8 points per game, while Micaela Parson is averaging 11 points and is also second in assists (35) and rebounds (4.8). Tolson leads the team with 5.8 rebounds per game and Kylie Murphree has recorded a team-leading 48 assists. This will be the third and final meeting this season for the Spiders against MEAC competition. Richmond defeated Florida A&M, but lost to Hampton.
 
MSU VS. RICHMOND SERIES NOTES: Richmond leads the all-time series, 5-0. The two teams last met on Dec. 30, 2009 in the title game of the Saint Peter's Holiday Classic in Jersey City, N.J. The Spiders would win, 63-60.
 
NEXT UP: The Lady Bears will return home on Saturday, Dec. 31 to close out 2016 and its non-conference schedule against Brown. Tip-off is at noon at Hill Field House.
 
FOLLOW THE LADY BEARS ON TWITTER: Morgan State women's basketball fans can follow the Lady Bears on Twitter. Check out regular updates on the team which will feature live tweets from games and on road trips. To follow the Morgan State Athletics Twitter page visit Twitter.com/MorganStBears.
 
FARRAR CLOSING IN ON 1,000 POINTS: Braennan Farrar enters this evening's game nine points shy of reaching 1,000 for her career. Farrar, who finished with 10 points against UAPB (12/21) to give her 991 points, would become the 14th Lady Bear to score 1,000 points.
 
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.
 
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).
 
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 351-246.
 
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.