Box Score BALTIMORE, Md. (Dec. 7, 2016)-Braennan Farrar scored 13 of her game-high 22 points in the second half and Jihayah Chavis scored a career-high 15 points, as Morgan State overcame an 11-point deficit to defeat the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), 69-61 on Wednesday afternoon at RAC Arena.

Morgan State, improved to 2-6 on the season with the win, while UMBC fell to 2-6. The win ended a season-long five-game losing skid for Morgan State, while also putting an end to a two-game losing streak against UMBC. Morgan State now trails the all-time series, 12-13.

Despite playing their sixth straight game on the road, the Lady Bears were back in Baltimore for a game for the first time in three weeks. Coupled with the fact that Morgan State was playing in front of a national television audience on ESPN3, the Lady Bears put together perhaps their best all-around performance thus far.

UMBC held an 11-point advantage (33-22), its largest of the game, following a layup by Tyler Moore with 3:07 left in the first half. The Lady Bears would score the next six points to pull within five points, but a jumper by Lakiah Sims gave the host Retrievers a 35-28 lead at the intermission.

Morgan State trailed 40-31 when Chavis went on her own 8-2 run, capped off by back-to-back three-pointers to bring the Lady Bears within three points at 42-39 with 5:46 left in the third period. After the Retrievers scored four straight points to extend their lead to seven, Morgan State used a 13-0 run to close out the final 2:38 of the third quarter to take a 52-46 lead.

Chavis begran the run with her third trey of the game and Farrar ended the run with back-to-back three-pointers from the right elbow to give the visitors a six-point advantage heading into the fourth period.

UMBC used a 13-8 run over eight minutes, capped off by a three-pointer by Laura Castaldo to bring the hosts with a point at 60-59 with 1:38 remaining in the game. Morgan State would get a put back basket from Ivy Harrington to up the lead to three points with 43 seconds left. The Lady Bears would then close out the game with a 7-2 spurt, as they connected on 7-of-8 from the free throw line for the 69-61 victory.

Morgan State finished the game connecting on 23-of-28 (82 percent) from the free throw line, while UMBC shot 66.7 percent (12-of-18) from the free throw line.

The Lady Bears recorded 11 steals and forced 21 UMBC turnovers. They would turn those turnovers into 27 points. Farrar led the way with a game-high four steals, while Chavis added three.  

The Retrievers were led by Castaldo, who scored 15 of her game-high 25 points in the first half. Castaldo, who shot 7-of-11 for the game, also added six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Moore knocked down a game-high four three-pointers on six attempts and finished with 14 points, while Pandora Wilson totaled 11. Sims pulled down a game-high seven rebounds to go with eight points, before fouling out.

Tykyrah Williams added 12 points for the Lady Bears and grabbed a team-high five rebounds. Harrington came off the bench and had a solid outing for Morgan State, which proved to be huge, as she finished with seven points on 2-for-2 shooting, four rebounds and a steal.

The Lady Bears will now be off for the next 11 days, as they prepare for final exams. Morgan State 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.