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Game 11
Opponent: No. 10/11 West Virginia Mountaineers (10-0)
Date: Monday, December 17, 2017
Site: Morgantown, W.Va. (WVU Coliseum)
Game Time: 7 p.m. 
Series Record: Morgan State leads, 1-0
Watch: WVUsports.com (free)
West Virginia Radio: WMMN-95.7 FM/920 AM (Morgantown/Fairmont)
Live Stats: www.WVUsports.com
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.WVUsports.com
 
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Dec. 17, 2017)-After a season-long 12-day layoff, the Morgan State women's basketball team returns to the State of West Virginia on Monday, Dec. 18 when they visit 10th ranked West Virginia in a non-conference game at 7 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum.
 
Morgan State will be facing a top-25 opponent for the first time since suffering a 73-43 loss at No. 20 Oklahoma State on Nov. 26, 2014.
 
The Mountaineers have won 37 consecutive non-conference games inside the WVU Coliseum dating back to Nov. 24, 2013.
 
This will be the second meeting ever between the two teams, with Morgan State holding a 1-0 series lead. The Lady Bears defeated the Mountaineers, 80-78 at the WVU Coliseum on Feb. 3, 1979.
 
The Mountaineers are 18-1 all-time against members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, following a 101-43 victory over Coppin State earlier this month on Dec. 10. West Virginia's lone loss to a MEAC member came against Morgan State head coach Edward Davis, when he was the head coach at Delaware State. Davis guided the Hornets to a 59-56 overtime victory over the Mountaineers on Dec. 14, 2003 in Dover, Del.
 
Morgan State (6-4) last played on Dec. 6 in Huntington, W.Va. and dropped a 73-68 decision at Marshall. Lexus Spears finished with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting to lead four Morgan State players in double figures scoring. Braennan Farrar scored 17 points and recorded a game-high six steals, while Kayla Horn scored a season-best 16 and had a team-high five rebounds. Tayler Miller came off the bench to add 10 points.
 
The Lady Bears have been paced by Spears' team-leading 14.7 points and team-high 7.1 rebounds per game. Spears also has a team-best 12 blocked shots and ranks second in steals with 18. Farrar is averaging 13.4 points, 5.7 rebounds to go with team highs in assists (42) and steals (31). 
 
West Virginia (10-0) enters Monday's contest unbeaten on the season and ranked No. 10/11 in the nation. The Mountaineers earned a 75-55 victory on Saturday in Charleston, W.Va. against Radford. 
 
Naomi Davenport led the way with a game-high 20 points and a game-high four steals, while Teana Muldrow added a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Kristina King and Katrina Pardee each scored 11 points. Chania Ray fell shy of double figures, finishing with eight points, a game-high eight assists and seven rebounds. 
 
Muldrow leads all five starters in double figures scoring with 22.2 points per game and is pulling down a team-high 9.1 boards a game. Davenport is adding 14.8 points and 7.5 rebounds, while Pardee is contributing 14 points. Fellow starters King and Ray are chipping in with 11.9 and 10.5 points, respectively. King is pulling down 7.2 boards.
 
The Mountaineers are averaging 83.8 points per game, while holding their opponents to 53.5 points per game. 
 
MORGAN  VS WEST VIRGINIA SERIES NOTES: This will be the second meeting between the two programs. Morgan State won the lone previous meeting, 80-78 on Feb. 3, 1979 in Morgantown, W.Va.
 
LADY BEARS VS THE BIG 12: Morgan State enters its contest with West Virginia, a combined 1-5 all-time against the Big 12 Conference. Here's how the Lady Bears have done against members of the Big 12: Kansas (0-2), Oklahoma State (0-2), Texas Tech (0-1) and West Virginia (1-0). Morgan State has never faced Baylor, Kansas State, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Texas or Texas Christian.
 
NEXT UP: Morgan State will travel to Fort Collins, Colo. to take on the Colorado State Rams on Thursday, Dec. 21 at 2 p.m. MST. This will be the second meeting between the two teams. Colorado State won the first meeting, 54-36 in the opening round of the Navy Classic on Nov. 27, 2015.
 
LAST TIMEOUT: HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (Dec. 6, 2017)-Morgan State nearly overcame Morgan State nearly overcame a slow start and a 15-point 3rd quarter deficit, but in the end it was too much, as the Marshall Thundering Herd held off Morgan State, 73-68 on Wednesday evening at Cam Henderson Center. The Lady Bears (6-4) were led by Lexus Spears, who finished with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting to lead four Morgan State players in double figures scoring. Braennan Farrar scored 17 points and recorded a game-high six steals, while Kayla Horn scored a season-best 16 and had a team-high five rebounds. Tayler Miller came off the bench to add 10 points. Morgan State trailed by as much as 15 points (48-35) after Talenquia Hamilton knocked down all three free throw attempts with 5:54 to play in the third quarter. The Lady Bears began to cut into the deficit, using a 12-4 spurt capped off by a layup from Spears to bring the guests within five points at 52-47 with 1:47 left in the quarter. The Herd (3-5) would score the final five points of the period to take a 57-47 lead. Every time Morgan State made a run, Marshall would push the lead right back up. A jumper by Gore at the 7:19 mark of the fourth quarter would give the Herd a 63-54 lead. The Lady Bears would again put together one last run, this time going on a 14-7 spurt, while holding the Herd without a field goal for the last 3:52 of the game. Miller capped off Morgan's run with a three-pointer with 34 seconds remaining to cut the Marshall lead to 70-68. However, that was as close as the Lady Bears would get. Gore would go 3-of-4 from the free throw line to score Marshall's final points of the game for the 73-28 victory.
 
SPEARS EARNS 2ND MADNESS HONOR: Senior forward Lexus Spears was named Madness Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Women's Basketball Player of the Week (12/11) by the staff of College Sports Madness for the second consecutive week. A native of Jacksonville, Fla., Spears, finished with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting to lead four Morgan State players in double figures scoring in a 73-68 road loss at Marshall on Dec. 6. Spears would also add four rebounds and a block in the loss, which snapped the Lady Bears' season-long four-game winning streak.
 
12-DAY LAYOFF: Following their contest at Marshall (12/6), the Lady Bears will have a season-long 12-day off to focus on exams. Morgan State will return to the court on Monday, Dec. 18, when they visit West Virginia. 
 
GRAHAM RETURNS TO MORGANTOWN: Morgan State assistant coach Donchez Graham will make his return to WVU Coliseum on Monday when the Lady Bears take on West Virginia. Graham served as an assistant coach on the Mountaineers' staff during the 2009-10 season. West Virginia would finish the season with a 29-6 record, including a berth in the Big East Conference Championship game and a second round appearance in the NCAA Tournament. At the time it was the winningest season in school history.
 
TRACKING DAVIS TO 400 VICTORIES: Morgan State head coach Edward Davis Jr., is 42 coaching wins away from reaching career win No. 400. Davis, who is in his second season at the helm of the Lady Bears and sixth overall, currently has a combined coaching record of 358 0wins during his time at Bowie State, Delaware State and Morgan State. Ironically, Davis earned his 350th career victory on the road against his former program, Delaware State on Feb. 20, 2017 in Dover, Del.
 
A NEW SEASON: What a difference a year makes. Last season the Lady Bears finished the 2016-17 campaign with a 9-21 mark. This year, Morgan State head coach Edward Davis Jr. has already guided the Lady Bears to six wins through their first 10 games. A year ago the Lady Bears didn't record their sixth win until the 25^th game of the season, a 50-43 victory at home over Savannah State on Feb. 18, 2017.
 
DEFENDING HOME: Morgan State remained unbeaten at Hill Field House this season, when it defeated Florida International, 62-51 ((12/4). Morgan improved to 5-0 at home with the win. The Lady Bears' other wins included a 55-43 defeat of NJIT (12/2), a 61-41 victory over Mount St. Mary's (Nov. 26) and two wins against Division II foes, Lincoln-Pa. (60-41) and Cheyney (123-53) in the home opener.
 
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR: The Lady Bears will close out the month of December with their final four games being played on the road. Morgan State will return to Hill Field House on Wednesday, Jan. 3 when it plays host to Maryland Eastern Shore at 5:30 p.m. in the MEAC opener.
 
SPEARS DOMINANT AGAINST THE NEC: Lexus Spears apparently likes playing against the Northeast Conference (NEC). In back-to-back games this season against NEC foes Mount St. Mary's and Central Connecticut, Spears recorded back-to-back career-high 22-point games. The 6-foot-2 forward finished with a combined 44 points, 22 rebounds, two steals and seven blocks in the wins. Spears shot 10-of-17 against Mount St. Mary's and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and had four blocks and two steals. She followed that up with another 22-point outing, eight rebounds and three blocks at Central Connecticut.
 
SEARCH PARTY CALLED OFF: Morgan State put an end to its search for its first road victory of the season, following its 61-41 victory at Central Connecticut (Nov. 29). The win improved the Lady Bears to 1-3 away from Hill Field House, including 1-2 on the road. Last season Morgan State dropped its first six contests away from home.
 
THEY'RE FREE: Senior Janessa Fauntroy is a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe this season. The 6-foot-1 forward knocked down a game-best six free throws in the opener at Syracuse (11/10). Last season Fauntroy connected on 41-of-64 (.641) from the line.
 
LADY BEARS SCORE SCHOOL RECORD 123 POINTS: The Lady Bears' 123 points in their victory over Cheyney (11/13) set a new school record for points in a game by Morgan State. The previous mark was 115 points against the University of Baltimore (1/17/83). The 70-point victory is the second largest margin of victory in school history behind an 82-point (102-20) victory over Coppin State (2/13/77).
 
MORGAN IN SEASON OPENERS: The Lady Bears are 11-30 all-time in season openers dating back to 1977, following its 95-68 road loss at Syracuse (11/10/17). It was the fourth season opening loss for the Lady Bears in five years. Morgan State at one point had lost 23 straight season openers, prior to winning three straight from 2006-08.
 
I'M BACK: Morgan State senior Lexus Spears returned to the Lady Bears this season after having her 2016-17 season cut short after three games due to a season-ending injury. Spears, a native of Jacksonville, Fla., is averaging 14.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per outing through 10 games. Twice she has scored a career-high 22 points in back-to-back games against Mount St. Mary's (11/26) and at Central Connecticut (11/29) and pulled down a season-high 14 rebounds, while recording four blocked shots against Mount St. Mary's.
 
MORGAN PICKED EIGHTH IN MEAC: Morgan State was picked to finish eighth 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 fifth, and went 9-21 overall mark and finished 7-9 in the MEAC to finish ninth. Morgan State would close out the regular season winning seven of its final eight MEAC games.
  
FARRAR NAMED TO PRESEASON MEAC SECOND TEAM: Senior guard Braennan Farrar was named to the Preseason All-MEAC Second Team. A native of St. Louis, Mo., Farrar led the Lady Bears in scoring (381) with 12.7 points per game, three-pointers made (35), steals (72) and assists (81), while shooting a team-best .786 (114-of-145) from the free throw line. Farrar, who started in 28 of the 30 games played, also averaged 34.4 minutes per contest.
 
WILLIAMS NAMED TO PRESEASON MEAC THIRD TEAM: Senior forward Tykyrah Williams was named to the Preseason All-MEAC Third Team. A year ago, Williams ranked second on the team in scoring at 10.2 points per game. A native of Durham, N.C., Williams started in 26 of the 30 games played and hauled in 5.7 rebounds per outing.
  
UNBEATEN STREAK ON THE LINE: Morgan State enters the season with a perfect record against only one opponent on this season's schedule, West Virginia (1-0). The Lady Bears defeated the Mountaineers in their only meeting, 80-78 on Feb. 3, 1979 in Morgantown, W.Va. The team teams will meet on Monday, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. in Morgantown.
    
SAYING GOODBYE: Morgan State will say goodbye to five seniors at the conclusion of the season. Four-year members Braennan Farrar, Tykyrah Williams and Lexus Spears along with transfers Janessa Fauntroy and Tayler Miller will be honored on Senior Night when they play their final home game at Hill Field House on Feb. 26, 2018 against crosstown rival Coppin State at 5:30 p.m.
 
2018 MEAC TOURNAMENT: The 2018 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) men's and women's basketball tournament is scheduled for March 5-10 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 in 2013 after spending the previous four years in Winston-Salem, N.C. from 2009 through 2012.