Game #30
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament (Quarterfinal)
No. 5 Morgan State "Lady Bears" (13-16) vs. No. 4 Coppin State "Lady Eagles" (14-15)
Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2016 / 2 p.m.
Place: Norfolk, Va. (Norfolk Scope Arena)
Series: Coppin State leads, 38-33
Live Stats: meachoops.com
Video: ESPN3
Audio: WEAA 88.9 FM
 
Morgan State MEAC Tournament Guide | Morgan State Notes | Coppin State Notes | MEAC Notes
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (March 6, 2016)- The fifth-seeded Morgan State Lady Bears will take on a familiar foe on Thursday, March 10, when they meet crosstown rival Coppin State the No. 4 seed. Tip-off is approximately at 2 p.m. at the Norfolk Scope Arena. This will be the second consecutive year and fifth all-time meeting in the MEAC Tournament between the two teams. Last season Coppin State picked up its first win over Morgan State in the tournament in four tries.
 
BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears (13-16) put an end to their three-game losing streak in the MEAC Tournament with a 52-42 first round win over No. 12 North Carolina Central on Monday. Zuri White scored a team-high 17 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds in the win. Lexus Spears added nine points and had a game-high two blocked shots, while Tykyrah Williams and Braennan Farrar each finished with eight points and two assists. Farrar also added a game-high three steals. MSU has been led by its four sophomores. Farrar is averaging 13.8 points per game and leads the team in assists (92) and steals (61). Williams is scoring 10.3 points and is second in steals (33), while Spears is adding 8.3 points and is second in rebounding (6.4) and blocks (10). White leads the team in rebounding with 7.6 per game. Junior Danielle Robinson is second in total three-pointers made (31), while senior Simone Sampson, who has led the team in blocks the past three seasons, has a team-best 13 blocked shots.
 
EAGLE SCRATCHES: Coppin State (14-15), which has won seven straight, is coming off a 78-54 victory over No. 13 Norfolk State on Monday in its MEAC opening round game. Amber Griffin led the Lady Eagles with a game-high 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting to lead four Coppin State players in double figures scoring. Genesia Lucas added 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting and had a game-high four steals, while Keena Samuels finished with 13 points, four assists and three steals. Tanaysa Henderson came off the bench and added 11 points for the Lady Eagles. Samuels has paced Coppin State with a team-leading 11.3 points per game to lead three Lady Eagles in double figures scoring. Janelle Lane is adding 10.9 points to go with 5.1 rebounds and Griffin is averaging 10.6 points and ranks second in assists with 71. Omaah Tayong leads the team in rebounding (8.4) and blocks (30) and is scoring 9.1 points per contest. Lucas has a team-best 119 assists and team-high 64 steals.
 
MSU VS. COPPIN STATE SERIES NOTES: Coppin State leads the all-time series, 38-33. The two teams split this season's series with Morgan State winning the first meeting, 75-51 at Hill Field House, before dropping an 82-38 decision at Coppin State. Morgan State holds a 3-1 lead over Coppin State in the MEAC Tournament, following a 71-56 first round loss to the Lady Eagles last season (3/10/15).
 
NEXT UP: If Morgan State defeats Coppin State, it will advance to Friday's noon semifinal game on March 11 against the winner of Wednesday's quarterfinal game between top-seeded Bethune-Cookman and No. 9 South Carolina State. 
 
BATTLE OF BALTIMORE PART 3: The 2016 edition of the Battle of Baltimore AKA "East vs. West" game, will take to the road, as Morgan State and Coppin State will meet for a third time this season. This time the two will square off inside the Norfolk Scope Arena in a MEAC quarterfinal game. The fifth-seeded Lady Bears and the fourth-seeded Lady Eagles split the regular season, each winning on their home floor. Thursday's game will also mark the second consecutive season that the two will play a third time in a season and meet in MEAC Tournament action. Last season, Morgan State won both regular season meetings, but it was Coppin State claiming a 71-56 decision in the opening round on March 10, 2015.
 
IT'S BEEN AWHILE: Monday's first round win over North Carolina Central (3/7) ended a three-game losing skid in the MEAC Tournament and marked the first time the Lady Bears have won a tournament game since a first round win during the 2012-13 tournament. It's been nine years since Morgan State's shocking run to the 2006-07 MEAC Championship game. Since then, the Lady Bears had recorded a 3-8 mark until the win over NCCU and reached the semifinals only twice. 
 
FARRAR NAMED TO ALL-MEAC SECOND TEAM: Sophomore guard Braennan Farrar was named to the All-MEAC second team, as announced by the league office (3/3). The all-conference honors were voted on the head coaches and sports information directors in the league. It was the second consecutive all-conference selection for Farrar, who last season was named to the all-rookie team. Farrar, started 25 of 28 games played and led the Lady Bears in scoring with an average of 14 points per game, assists (90) and steals (58). She shot a team-best 43 three-pointers and hauled in 3.6 rebounds, while averaging 32.5 minutes per contest. The St. Louis, Mo. native, reached double figures in scoring 21 times, including five 20-point games and a 30-point game. She finished with a career-high 33 points on 12-of-23 shooting against Norfolk State (12/5). Farrar also recorded two double-double games on the season. The first one came in the season opener against Washington Adventist (11/15) when she scored 22 points and set a career-high 12 assists. Farrar would later score 11 points and had 12 assists against Howard (1/30).
 
11 STRAIGHT: Farrar's All-MEAC selection marks the 11th straight season a Morgan State Lady Bear has earned all-conference honors under the direction of 11th-year head coach Donald Beasley. Along with 11 straight seasons with at least one all-conference selection since being at the helm, Coach Beasley has also produced five MEAC All-Tournament honorees, including two in the past three tournaments.
 
WORST LOSS EVER: Morgan State's 82-38 loss at Coppin State (2/27) was its worst defeat ever to the Lady Eagles in the series' all-time history. The 44-point defeat ranks third all-time for largest margin of victory for either team. Morgan State holds the top two largest margins of victory with a 46-point (76-30) win on Feb. 15, 1986 and an 82-point (102-20) victory over Coppin State on Feb. 13, 1977.

SAYING GOODBYE: Morgan State said goodbye to five seniors last week in its two four-year seniors, Dinah Jones and Simone Sampson, as well as juniors Danielle Robinson, Jayde Duncan and Janelle Silver prior to the regular season finale against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (March 3) at Hill Field House. Robinson, sat out her freshman season in 2012-13, while Duncan, transferred into Morgan State as a sophomore during the 2013-14 season, but sat out.
 
FREE FALLING: In a matter of three games, the Lady Bears dropped from being in sole possession of first-place in the MEAC standings, to being in second, to entering the season finale in fourth-place, to heading into the MEAC Tournament as the No. 5-seed. The Lady Bears concluded the regular season with back-to-back-back losses to North Carolina A&T, Coppin State and Maryland Eastern Shore.
 
ROAD STRUGGLES: The Lady Bears, who at the start of the season struggled on the road, closed out the regular season winning three of its last five road games to go 5-11 on the road. However, the Lady Bears dropped their last two road contests, including an 82-38 thumping on Saturday, Feb. 27 at rival Coppin State. Morgan State, which began the season 0-8 away from home, including two neutral court losses during the Navy Classic (11/27-28) in Annapolis, Md., at one point had won three straight road games. The Lady Bears 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.
 
PERFECTION: Possibly the only thing that went right for the Lady Bears against Coppin State (2/27) was the fact that they shot 12-for-12 (100 percent) from the free throw line. It marked the second time this season they were perfect from the free throw line. The Lady Bears were also perfect from the free throw line when they went 18-of-18 (100 percent) from the charity line in their win over Howard (1/30).
 
PARTY CRASHERS: Morgan State served as Homecoming and 'Senior Day' guests of Coppin State (2/27) and was dealt an 82-38 loss. It marked the first time this season in three tries that the Lady Bears didn't spoil the festivities. Morgan State was also 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.
 
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 141-194 all-time record at Morgan State.
 
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 this season under the new quarter system. While predicting which quarter it will be is unknown, knowing its going to happen, thus far this season is a given. Through 28 games, the first, second and third quarters have been big for MSU opponents. The Lady Bears have been outscored a combined 58 points (390-332) in the first, by 51 points (449-398) in the second quarter and by 79 points (474-395) 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.