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BALTIMORE, Md. (Dec. 5, 2016)-The Morgan State Lady Bears will make the short trip to crosstown foe, the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) for a non-conference game on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. at RAC Arena. The game will be carried live on ESPN3 with Paul Mittermeier and Raven Harris on the call. Morgan State fans can also listen to the live radio broadcast on WEAA 88.9 FM with play-by-play announcer Lamont Germany and color analysts Austin Ward and James Hellmann.

Despite the contest marking the sixth consecutive game away from Hill Field House for Morgan State, it will also give Lady Bear fans an opportunity to see the team live for the first time since their Nov. 17 home opener. It will be the 25^th meeting between the two programs with the Retrievers holding a 13-11 all-time series lead.    

BEAR CLAWS: Morgan State (1-6) has lost five straight games heading into its match-up against UMBC. The Lady Bears dropped a 61-42 decision in its last outing at Dayton (12/2). Braennan Farrar scored a team-leading 11 points, pulled down seven rebounds, had three assists and two steals. Jihayah Chavis finished with eight points, while Chelsea Mitchell finished with seven rebounds and two assists. Jayde Duncan had one of her better all-around games, as she finished with seven points, including her first career three-pointer, seven rebounds and two blocked shots. The Flyers shot 16 more free throws than Morgan State, finishing the game connecting on 16-of-24 (66.7 percent). The Lady Bears shot 75 percent (6-of-8) from the charity stripe. Farrar leads the Lady Bears in scoring (14.6), steals (20) and assists (25). Tykyrah Williams is adding 9.6 points per game and is averaging a team-leading 5.6 rebounds.

A LOOK AT THE RETRIEVERS: UMBC (2-5) has also dropped five straight games, including a 92-42 defeat at #5 Maryland on Sunday. Laura Castaldo scored a team-high 13 points and Tyler Moore added nine points and Lakiah Sims finished with a team-high nine rebounds in the loss to Maryland. Sims is averaging a team-best 11.3 points to go with a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game. Pandora Wilson is adding 10.6 points and 4.7 boards per contest. UMBC is 0-3 against fellow Maryland teams with losses against Maryland Eastern Shore, Towson and Maryland.   

MSU VS. UMBC SERIES NOTES: The Retrievers lead the all-time series, 13-11, following their 65-46 victory last season at Hill Field House (12/12/15). UMBC's win ended a two-game losing slide to Morgan State.

LADY BEARS VS. THE AMERICA EAST: Morgan State is 12-24 all-time against members of the America East Conference. Here's how the Lady Bears have done against the America East: Albany (0-2), Binghamton (0-1), Hartford (0-1), New Hampshire (0-1), Stony Brook (1-6), UMBC (11-13). Morgan State has not faced Maine, Massachusetts-Lowell or Vermont.

NEXT UP: The Lady Bears will finally play on their home floor for the first time in over a month, when they welcome Robert Morris to Hill Field House for a non-conference game on Sunday, Dec. 18. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.

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 142 opponent turnovers in seven games, with 81 of them coming by way of steals. In the win against Washington Adventist, the Lady Bears forced a season-high 31 turnovers, a season-high 21 of them were steals. Morgan State converted those turnovers into a season-best 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.

SHOW ME STATE HOMECOMING: The Lady Bears' Missouri trip last week marked the homecoming of two Lady Bear junior guards and St. Louis natives, Braennan Farrar (Clyde C. Miller Career Academy) and Tayler Williams (Metro Academic & Classical Academy). It also marked the return to the Show Me State for two of Morgan State's coaching staff. Associate head coach Wanika Owsley played collegiately for Southeast Missouri State, while assistant coach, Brittany Dodson, who is a native of St. Louis and played at Metro Academic & Classical Academy.

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 350-241.

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.

STILL UNBEATEN: The Lady Bears entered the season with a perfect record against just one of this season's opponents in Washington Adventist. Morgan State remained unbeaten against the Shock, improving to 3-0, following a 79-28 victory in its home opener (Nov. 17). Last season the Lady Bears defeated WAU, 74-36 in the home and season opener on Nov. 15, 2015 in Baltimore.

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.

OWSLEY NAMED ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH: Wanika Owsley was promoted to associate head coach this October by interim head coach Ed Davis. Owsley, who is in her second stint at Morgan State, enters her sixth season overall with the Lady Bears' program. Owsley had previously spent the 2009-10 season at Morgan State, where she helped the Lady Bears to a 17-13 and then school-best third-place regular season finish in the MEAC. She returned to Morgan State. during the 2012-13 campaign after spending two seasons as an assistant coach on the Mississippi State women's staff. A native of Indianapolis, Ind., Owsley earned a degree in computer science from Southeast Missouri State, where she helped the Redhawks to a 46-16 overall record and their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance during her senior season.

MORGAN IN SEASON OPENERS: The Lady Bears fell to 11-29 all-time in season openers dating back to 1977, following its 65-50 road loss to Mount St. Mary's (11/15/16). 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 the season at home and defeated Washington Adventist by a score of 74-36 (11/15/15).

GRAHAM RETURNS AS ASSISTANT COACH: Morgan State interim head coach Ed Davis completed his coaching staff with the hiring of Donchez Graham as an assistant coach. Graham is no stranger to Morgan State, as this will be his second stint with the Lady Bears and fifth season overall. Graham returns to Morgan after spending the past two year (2014-16) as the head basketball trainer at Project Rising and the head coach of Team Adidas Shooting Stars. He also had stints as assistant coach at both West Virginia University and the University of Charleston. During his first stint at Morgan State (2005-09), Graham helped the Lady Bears to 53 victories in four seasons, while reaching the 2007 MEAC title game in his second season and the 2008 WNIT, the program's first postseason invitation on the Division I level, in his third season.  

REMATCH: The Lady Bears have four rematch games this season against non-conference opponents from the 2015-16 schedule. Those opponents are Washington Adventist, Missouri-Kansas City, University of Maryland Baltimore County and Brown. Last season Morgan State went 1-3 against those opponents with its lone win coming over Washington Adventist. 

TOURNAMENT EXPOSURE: Six of Morgan's 2016-17 opponents reached postseason play last season. Two opponents reached the 2016 Women's NCAA Tournament (Robert Morris and defending MEAC Tournament champion, North Carolina A&T). Three competed in the 2016 Women's National Invitational Tournament (Saint Louis, Marshall and MEAC foe Bethune-Cookman), while one (UMBC) took part in the Women's Basketball Invitational.