Game #25
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (11-13, 9-3 MEAC) vs. North Carolina Central "Lady Eagles" (4-19, 2-10 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016 / 2 p.m.
Place: Baltimore, Md. (Hill Field House)
Series: Morgan State leads, 7-4
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Morgan State Notes | N.C. Central Notes | MEAC Notes
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Feb. 19, 2016)-The Morgan State women's basketball team returns home this week for the first time in 19 days to host two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) games. The Lady Bears will first play host to North Carolina Central on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m., before taking on North Carolina A&T State on Monday, Feb. 22 at 5:30 p.m. Both games will be played at Hill Field House. The Lady Bears enter the N.C. Central contest tied for second-place in the league standings with Bethune-Cookman and North Carolina A&T.
 
BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears (11-13, 9-3 MEAC) concluded their four-game road trip with a 3-1 mark, dropping the final game to Hampton, 60-47 on Monday, Feb. 15. The loss ended a season-best five-game winning streak for Morgan State. The Lady Bears' loss, coupled with North Carolina A&T defeating Bethune-Cookman, sent Hampton into sole possession of first place in the league standings, while Morgan State and Bethune-Cookman both fell out of first and into a three-way tie for second along with North Carolina A&T. Tykyrah Williams led the Lady Bears with 16 points, while Danielle Robinson came off the bench to score nine points against Hampton. Braennan Farrar scored eight points and had a game-high four assists. Lexus Spears pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Morgan has been led this season by Farrar, who is scoring 14.7 points per game and also leads the squad in assists (78) and steals (51). Williams is averaging 10.4 points, while Spears is adding 8.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per contest. White is the team's leading rebounder with 7.7 boards per outing.
 
EAGLE SCRATCHES: North Carolina Central (4-19, 2-10 MEAC), who has dropped three straight games and its last seven consecutive MEAC contests, is coming off a 63-46 road loss at Coppin State on Thursday. Tisha Dixon recorded her third double-double of the season and 10th of her career, finishing with 14 points and 14 rebounds, both game highs to lead the Lady Eagles. Rodneysha Martin came off the bench to add 12 points and seven rebounds, as the Lady Eagles held a 51-42 rebounding advantage over Coppin State. N.C. Central committed 28 turnovers for the game, 11 of which were charged to Dixon. Coppin State turned those 28 turnovers into 30 points. Dixon leads the squad in scoring (10.6) and rebounding (7.6) per game. Morgan Jones is contributing 10.4 points and leads the team in assists (43) and steals (35). The loss to Coppin State dropped the Lady Eagles' road record to 1-13 this season. NCCU is 1-4 all-time at Morgan State with its lone win being a 63-48 victory at Hill Field House on Jan. 22, 2009. 
 
MSU VS. NCCU SERIES NOTES: Morgan State leads the series, 7-4, but NCCU has won the past two meetings, including last season's 63-47 win in Durham, N.C. (2/21). It was the third consecutive meeting in Durham, N.C. The last time the two teams played in Baltimore, Md. was Jan. 23, 2012, a 64-59 victory by the Lady Bears.
  
NEXT UP: Following Monday's game against N.C. A&T State, the Lady Bears will take to the road one last time during the regular season, when they travel to rival Coppin State on Saturday, Feb. 27. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. at the Physical Education Complex.
  
ROAD STRUGGLES: The Lady Bears, who at the start of the season struggled on the road, have won five of their past seven road games, including three consecutive games at one point. Morgan, which began the season 0-8 away from home, including two neutral court losses during the Navy Classic (11/27-28) in Annapolis, Md., is now 5-10 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 that win, 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.
 
GIVE ME FIVE: Morgan State had its season-long five-game winning streak come to an end, following the loss at Hampton (2/15). The season-long five game streak was the Lady Bears' longest winning streak since the 2012-13 season, when that team won five straight.
 
MORE TIME PLEASE: The Morgan State Lady Bears needed three overtime periods to defeat the defending MEAC Tournament champion Savannah State Lady Tigers, 66-60 on Feb. 6 in Savannah, Ga. It was the second overtime game this season for the Lady Bears, who also needed overtime to defeat Maryland Eastern Shore on the road in Princess Anne, Md. (Jan. 11).
 
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.
 
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 139-191 all-time record at Morgan State.
 
PARTY CRASHERS: The Lady Bears have been invited guests at both Norfolk State's Alumni Day (Feb. 13) and Savannah State's homecoming basketball game on Feb. 6 and spoiled both festivities. The Lady Bears defeated Norfolk State, 59-56 and earned a 66-60 triple overtime win over the Lady Tigers. Morgan State will also serve as 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).
 
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 24 games, the first and third quarters have been big for MSU opponents. The Lady Bears have been outscored a combined 56 points (331-275) in the first and by 60 points (390-330) 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.
  
WHITE GRABS CAREER– AND MEAC-BEST 20 REBOUNDS: Zuri White pulled down a career-high and MEAC-best 20 rebounds at Florida A&M (1/16). White also scored 10 points to earn her first double-double of the season. Her 20 rebounds rank fourth on the Morgan State career charts and surpassed her previous high of 14 rebounds against Brown (1/4/15).
 
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.