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Game 20 (MEAC Contest)
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (2-17, 0-6 MEAC)
at Coppin State "Eagles" (3-15, 3-3 MEAC)
Date: January 28, 2017 | 2 p.m.
Place: Baltimore, Md. | The PEC
Series: Coppin State leads, 39-31
Live Stats: www.coppinstatesports.com – click here
Live Video Stream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/coppin-state-tube
Radio: WEAA 88.9 FM | HSRN.com
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 28, 2016)-Morgan State wraps up its third consecutive road game on Saturday, when it visits crosstown rival Coppin State in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) contest at the Physical Education Complex. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. on the Coppin State campus.
 
With such nicknames as 'The Battle of Baltimore' and the 'East vs. West' game, the Morgan-Coppin game is Baltimore's biggest and best rivalry. Separated by 5.9 miles from each other, when the two schools get together you can throw the records out the window.   
 
"Our number one focus is to try to get a conference win," said Morgan State interim head coach Edward Davis. "We definitely understand the magnitude of the crosstown rivalry, but we're one play, two plays, one free throw, one rebound away from winning six potential games. So, our focus tomorrow is to do the best we can to take away what Coppin offers in the guards. At the same time put ourselves in position where we're still playing defense and if we get that opportunity to make that one play, just make it.
 
"It would be great to make it against our crosstown rivals and I think the girls will be very focused to want to do that. But we have to try and get that first win. Coppin's the one in front of us and it happens to be a crosstown rival, so that's what we're trying to do."
 
Saturday's contest will mark the 71^st meeting between the two teams with Coppin State holding a 39-31 all-time series lead. The two teams split last year's regular season, each winning on their own home floor. Morgan State captured the first game 72-51, but the Eagles bounced back to defeat the Lady Bears by 44 points (82-38).
 
It was the largest margin of victory ever for Coppin State over Morgan State in the series' history and ranked third for largest victory in the series behind Morgan's 82-point (102-20) win in 1977 and a 46-point (76-30) victory by the Lady Bears in 1986. Ironically, all three games were played in the month of February.
 
"It's very intense. It's about who runs Baltimore," said Braennan Farrar, who enters tomorrow's game with a 3-3 record against Coppin State, but has had Coppin State end her first two season's at Morgan State in the MEAC Tournament. "There's a lot of good competition over there. Their guards are good, our guards are good. It's about heart at the end of the day. Who wants to win? Who's going to come out with the most fire?
 
"Last year we split and it was a bad split, but I feel like this year there's more fire to it. We're looking for revenge from last year. I like the rivalry."
 
Morgan State, who is on a season-long 11-game losing streak, would like nothing more than to end that slide by defeating its crosstown rival, while avenging last year's thumping on Coppin's Homecoming and Senior Day. That's what Farrar and her veteran teammates have been trying to prepare the freshmen for this rivalry.  
 
"That's the one we talk about the most," said Farrar of last year's 44-point loss. "We told our freshmen, "you all don't want to feel how we felt that day." I feel like that day we just weren't focused. This game is more than just a rival game. Last year they [Coppin] really blew us out and we have to come back with something stronger."
 
BEAR CLAWS: Morgan State (2-17, 0-6 MEAC), still searching for its first MEAC victory of the season, dropped its 11th straight game in a row, following a 50-46 loss at South Carolina State on Monday. Tykyrah Williams led Morgan State with a team-high 11 points and Zuri White added eight points and a team-high eight rebounds. Chelsea Mitchell finished with six points, while Kaylin Ellis came off the bench and totaled a season-high six points on 2-for-3 shooting from three-point range. Farrar leads Morgan State with an average of 12.8 points per game, while Williams is adding 10.2 points and leads the team in rebounds with 5.8 per contest.
 
BIRD SEED: Coppin State (3-15, 3-3 MEAC) losers of two straight, enters the contest coming off a 49-45 loss at home to Norfolk State on Monday. Tiara Goode scored a team-best nine points and Chance Graham finished with a game-high 16 rebounds and had eight points for the Eagles. Genesis Lucas has paced Coppin State this season with 12.4 points per game. Lucas also leads the team in assists (64) and steals (38). Keena Samuels is contributing 12.3 points, while Graham has been Coppin State's leading rebounder with 8.4 boards per game.
 
MSU VS. COPPIN STATE SERIES NOTES: The Eagles hold a 39-31 all-time series lead over Morgan State. Coppin State has won two straight over Morgan State. The two teams split last season's regular season, each winning on their home floors. The Lady Bears defeated Coppin State, 72-51 at Hill Field House (2/1), before later receiving an 82-38 thumping on the Eagles' Homecoming/Senior Day at the PEC on Feb. 27. For a second consecutive year, the Eagles and Lady Bears would meet for a third time, as the two squared off in the MEAC Tournament, with Coppin State defeating the Lady Bears, 63-53 in the quarterfinals (3/10).
 
NEXT UP: The Lady Bears will return home on Monday, Jan. 30 to conclude a home-and-home series against Florida A&M. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m. at Hill Field House. MSU dropped the first meeting against the Rattlers, 51-48 in Tallahassee, Fla. (1/9). Junior captain Braennan Farrar will be honored prior to the start of the game for scoring 1,000 points in her career. Farrar reached the 1,000-point milestone at Richmond (12/27).
 
11 STRAIGHT AND COUNTING: The Lady Bears' current losing streak reached a season-long 11 games, following their 50-46 loss at South Carolina State (1/23). The streak surpasses the previous five-game losing skid Morgan State had earlier in the season.
 
MOVING UP: Braennan Farrar was held to four points on 1-of-13 shooting in the loss at South Carolina State (1/23), giving her 1,073 points to surpass former Lady Bear Sherie Cornish (1,070 points from 1998-02) for 11th all-time at Morgan State. Farrar is now 45 points away from passing Carla Thomas (1,117 points from 1984-87) for 10th-place at Morgan State.
 
IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME: Morgan State has dropped its last nine MEAC regular season contests, dating back to the last three games from the 2015-16 season. Morgan State's last regular season MEAC victory was a 66-55 victory at home over North Carolina Central (2/20/16).
 
SPIRITUAL REBOOT: Following Sunday morning's practice (1/22), the Lady Bears along with their coaching and support staffs spent the rest of the morning attending the church services at North Orangeburg United Methodist Church.
 
LADY BEARS ASSIST ORANGEBURG COMMUNITY: During the Lady Bears' recent trip to Orangeburg, SC (1/22-23), the Lady Bears took some time out to collect and donate toiletries to go towards helping a total of 10 families get back on their feet after they were recently displaced when the Roosevelt Gardens apartment complex caught fire a week earlier in the Orangeburg area.
   
IT TAKES A THEIF: The Lady Bears have recorded 211 steals as a team in 19 games played thus far. Last season Morgan State recorded 249 steals in 30 games. Breannan Farrar leads the way with a team-best 47, while Tykyrah Williams has 29 steals. Chelsea Mitchell and Jihayah Chavis are adding 27 and 25 steals, respectively.