Game #23
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (10-12, 8-2 MEAC) at Norfolk State "Spartans" (2-19, 2-9 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016 / 4 p.m.
Place: Norfolk, Va. (Echols Hall)
Series: Norfolk State leads, 20-14
Live Stats | Video | Audio
Morgan State Notes | Norfolk State Notes

Game #24
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (10-12, 8-2 MEAC) at Hampton "Lady Pirates" (10-13, 8-2 MEAC)
Date: Monday, Feb. 15, 2016 / 4 p.m.
Place: Hampton, Va. (HU Convocation Center)
Series: Hampton leads, 29-11
Live Stats | Video | Audio
Morgan State Notes | Hampton Notes 
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Feb. 11, 2016)-The Lady Bears, winners of a season-long four-game winning streak and seven of their last eight games, concludes their four-game road swing away from Hill Field House this weekend, when they travel to the Virginia Tidewater area for two crucial Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) contests. Morgan State will first visit the Norfolk State Spartans on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 4 p.m. at Echols Hall in Norfolk, Va. Morgan State will then take on six-time defending MEAC regular season champion Hampton on Monday, Feb. 15 at 4 p.m. at the HU Convocation Center in Hampton, Va.
 
BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears (10-12, 8-2 MEAC) concluded a successful first leg of their four-game road with 2-0 mark, following back-to-back wins at Savannah State (2/6) and South Carolina State (2/8). The wins, coupled with Hampton's loss at Howard (2/8), have the Lady Bears sitting in a three-way tie for first-place with Bethune-Cookman and Hampton. Braennan Farrar scored a game-high 26 points and added four steals and five assists, both game highs, as the Lady Bears won 66-60 in triple overtime and spoiled homecoming festivities for Savannah State. Tykyrah Williams tallied 23 points, pulled down eight rebounds and had three steals, as Morgan State recorded 19 steals for the game. Farrar then scored a game-high 17 points, while Lexus Spears and Williams each scored 11 points and Zuri White finished with a game-high 13 rebounds in Monday's 62-56 win against S.C. State. Morgan has been led this season by Farrar, who is scoring 15.2 points per game and also leads the squad in assists (69) and steals (47). Williams is averaging 10.1 points, while Spears is adding 8.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per contest. White is the team's leading rebounder with 7.7 boards per outing.
 
SPARTAN LEGION: Norfolk State (2-19, 2-9 MEAC), which has struggled this season, enters Saturday's game on a two-game winning streak, following road victories at Howard, 110-108 in overtime on Feb. 6 and a 74-63 victory at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on Feb. 8. In its last outing, the Spartans got a team-high 21 points from Koryn Lawrence and 12 and 11 points out of Kiara Phillips and Dominique Harper, respectively, against UMES. Siobhan Beslow leads the Spartans in both scoring (11.5) and rebounding (9.8). Kayla Roberts is scoring 10.0 points and is grabbing 8.0 rebounds per game. Roberts also leads Norfolk State in blocked shots with 27, while Beslow is second with 26 blocked shots. Lawrence has a team-high 64 assists and a team-best 40 steals this season to go with 9.0 points per game.
 
MSU VS. NORFOLK STATE SERIES NOTES: Norfolk State leads the all-time series, 20-14. Morgan State has won just two of the last seven meetings, including a 67-58 victory earlier this season in Baltimore (12/5/15).
 
PIRATES LOG: Hampton (10-13, 8-2 MEAC) had its season-long six-game winning streak come to an end on Monday, Feb. 8, following an 83-77 overtime loss at rival Howard. The loss to the Lady Bison also ended a 15-game winning streak in the series, and sent the Lady Pirates out of sole possession of first-place in the MEAC standings. Hampton is now tied with Bethune-Cookman and Morgan State for first with identical 8-2 league records. Malia Tate-DeFreitas finished with a season-high 37 points and grabbed nine rebounds. K'lynn Willis added 14 points, while Mikayla Sayle grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds. Kristine Rose added 10 rebounds. Tate-DeFreitas leads the Lady Pirates in scoring with 21 points per game to go with her team-leading 62 assists and team-high 54 steals. Tate-DeFreitas, who is second on the team in rebounding with 6.8 per game, also has 13 blocks, which is second. Kaylah Lupoe leads the team in both rebounding with 7.7 per contest and blocks (36) and is second on the team in scoring with 10.1 points per game. Tate-DeFreitas (46) and Willis (23) have combined for 69 of Hampton's 100 three-pointers this season.
 
MSU VS. HAMPTON SERIES NOTES: Hampton leads the all-time series, 29-11. The Lady Pirates have won 11 straight over Morgan State, including a 65-51 victory this season in Baltimore (12/7/15).
 
NEXT UP: Following Monday's game against Hampton, the Lady Bears will return home to host North Carolina Central on Saturday, Feb. 20 in a MEAC game at 2 p.m. Morgan State will then take on North Carolina A&T on Monday, Feb. 22 at 5:30 p.m. Both games will be played at Hill Field House.
  
ROAD STRUGGLES: The Lady Bears, who have struggled on the road this season, have won two straight, following back-to-back road wins at Savannah State (2/6) and South Carolina State (2/8). Morgan State, which has won four of its last five road games, is now 4-9 away from home. The Lady Bear earned their first win away from Hill Field House, following a 77-69 overtime victory over UMES on Monday, Jan. 11. Prior to the win, Morgan State was 0-8 away from home, including two neutral court losses during the Navy Classic (11/27-28) in Annapolis, Md. The Lady Bears had not won a road contest since last year's regular season finale against Maryland Eastern Shore (3/5/15), a 65-50 victory.
  
WILLIAMS NAMED MADNESS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Tykyrah Williams earned Madness MEAC Player of the Week honors as announced by the staff of College Sports Madness (Feb. 8). A native of Durham, N.C., Williams totaled 41 points, 14 rebounds, five steals, two assists and a block to lead the Lady Bears to a 2-0 week. A native of Durham, N.C., Williams scored a game-high 18 points, grabbed six rebounds and had two steals and an assist against Coppin State. She then totaled 23 points, pulled down eight rebounds, had three steals, an assist and a block against defending MEAC Tournament champion, Savannah State.
 
FOUR AND COUNTING: The Lady Bears enter this weekend's games riding a season-long four-game winning streak. It's their longest winning streak since the 2012-13 season, when that team won five straight.
 
BEASLEY ALL-TIME COACHIING LEADER: 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 (123-166), following a 57-50 win over Florida A&M (1/17/15), currently holds a 138-190 all-time record at Morgan State.
 
PARTY CRASHERS: The Lady Bears were invited guests at Savannah State's homecoming basketball game on Feb. 6 and spoiled the festivities with a 66-60 triple overtime win over the Lady Tigers. Morgan State will also be this season's homecoming opponent of rival Coppin State when the two square off on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 2 p.m. at the Physical Education Complex.
 
WILLIAMS COMING INTO HER OWN: Over the last four games, sophomore Tykyrah Williams is averaging 16.5 points and 6.7 rebounds after totaling 66 points and 27 rebounds. Williams has also converted on 17-of-21 from the free throw line. A native of Durham, N.C., Williams scored 23 points, grabbed eight rebounds and added three steals in the last game against South Carolina State (2/8). Earlier in the season she had her best game of her career as a Lady Bear, coming off the bench to score a career-high 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including a 3-for-4 performance from three-point range, eight rebounds, five assists and a steal against then 23rd-ranked Syracuse (11/23).
 
WHITE SETS CAREER-HIGH: Zuri White put on an offensive display scoring a career-high 22 points against Howard (1/30). The Durham, N.C. native shot 8-for-11 from the floor and made all six of her free throw attempts. Whit also pulled down 13 of Morgan State's 48 rebounds to record her second double-double of her career.
 
PERFECTION: The Lady Bears were a perfect 18-of-18 (100 percent) from the charity line in their win over Howard (1/30). It marked the first time this season that Morgan State made all of its free throw attempts.
 
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. Through 22 games, the first and third quarters have been big for MSU opponents. The Lady Bears have been outscored a combined 70 points (313-243) in the first and by 69 points (374-305) in the third quarter. 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 Morgan State 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: Last season Morgan State finished the 2014-15 campaign also in last place (343rd) in field goal percentage. This season the Lady Bears currently rank last (344th) in the nation in field goal percentage through 22 games at 31.0 percent (425-of-1369). In the loss at James Madison (11/17), Morgan State shot a season-low 18.3 percent (11-of-60).
 
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).
 
2016 MEAC TOURNAMENT: The 2015 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 after spending the previous four years in Winston-Salem, N.C. from 2009 through 2012.