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Game 13
Opponent: Umass Lowell Riverhawks (3-8)
Date: Thursday, December 28, 2017
Site: Lowell, Mass. (Costello Athletic Center)
Game Time: 4 p.m. 
Series Record: First Meeting
Watch: ESPN3
Radio: www.goriverhawks.com
Live Stats: www.goriverhawks.com
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.goriverhawks.com
 
LOWELL, Mass. (Dec. 28, 2017)- Morgan State will close out its 2017 portion of its schedule, as well as its non-conference slate when it visits UMASS Lowell on Thursday, Dec. 28. Tip-off is at 4 p.m. This will be the first meeting between the two teams. A win by Morgan State will give the Lady Bears their first non-conference winning record since the 2008-09 season, when that team won eight non-conference games and finished 8-4 in non-conference play.

BEAR CLAWS: Morgan State (6-6) is coming off a 60-44 loss at Colorado State (12/21). Lexus Spears 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Tykyrah Williams scored 11 points and Naomi Bolansimgh added eight points and had three assists. It was the third straight loss for the Lady Bears. Spears has led the Lady Bears with 13.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Spears also lead the team with 13 blocks and is second in steals with 20. Braennan Farrar is averaging 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per outing. Williams is scoring 9.9 points per game to go with 5.1 rebounds. The Lady Bears are averaging 62.9 points, while surrendering 65.5 points per game.

SCOUTING THE RIVERHAWKS: UMass Lowell (3-8), losers of two straight and four of its last five games, is coming off a 73-63 loss to Massachusetts (UMass). Paula Lopez scored a team-high 17 points, had six rebounds and three steals in the loss. Linda Svenne finished with 11 points and six rebounds and Megan Hendrick came off the bench to add 10. Katie McKie had a team-high seven rebounds. Kayla Gibbs is averaging a double-double to lead the Riverhawks with 14.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. Lopez is averaging 11.7 points and leads the team in assists (30) and steals (20). UMass Lowell is averaging 68.8 points per game, while allowing 74.0 to its opponents.

MORGAN STATE VS. UMASS LOWELL SERIES NOTES: This is will be the first meeting between the two teams.

LADY BEARS VS. THE AMERICA EAST: Morgan State enters its contest with UMass Lowell with a combined 13-24 record against members of the America East Conference. Here's how MSU has done against the America East: Albany (0-2), Binghamton (0-1), Hartford (0-1), New Hampshire (0-1), Stony Brook (1-6), UMBC (12-13). Morgan State has not faced Maine, UMass or Vermont.

NEXT UP: Morgan State will begin the new year at home when it hosts Maryland Eastern Shore (1/3) in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener for both teams. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. at Hill Field House.

LAST TIMEOUT: FORT COLLINS, Colo. (Dec. 21, 2017) - Annie Brady finished with a game-high 18 points and added a game-high 17 rebounds to record her second straight double-double, as host Colorado State defeated Morgan State, 60-44 in a non-conference game at Moby Arena. Stine Austgulen added 14 points and Grace Colaivalu contributed 10 points and had a game-high seven assists to lead the Rams, who improved to 8-3 on the season. Morgan State (6-6) was led by Lexus Spears, who tallied 12 points and eight rebounds. Tykyrah Williams scored 11 points and Naomi Bolansimgh added eight points and had three assists. The Lady Bears shot 27 percent (17-of-62) for the game and connected on 4-of-26 (15 percent) from three-point range. Colorado State shot 46.9 percent (23-of-49) from the floor, including 35 percent (6-of-17) from beyond the arc. Morgan State outrebounded the visitors 40-34.
 
THREE-GAME SLIDE: The Lady Bears enter Thursday's contest at UMass Lowell on a season-long three-game losing skid, following its 60-44 loss at Colorado State (12/21). Morgan is averaging just 40.5 points in its last two road losses at No. 10 West Virginia and Colorado State.
 
FARRAR ON THE RISE: Braennan "BeBe" Farrar continues to make her move up several of Morgan State's statistical charts. Farrar currently ranks fourth all-time at Morgan State in assists with 301. The St. Louis, Mo. native is fifth all-time in steals with 203 and is six steals shy of moving into fourth-place. Farrar also ranks seventh in scoring with 1,358 points. 
 
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 12 games. A year ago the Lady Bears didn't record their sixth win until the 25th game of the season, a 50-43 victory at home over Savannah State on Feb. 18, 2017.
 
THE ONLY ONE: Morgan State will look to add to its lone road victory when it takes on UMass Lowell (12/28). MSU enters the contest with a 1-6 road record with that lone victory coming at Central Connecticut (11/29).
 
WILLIAMS HAS BOUNCE BACK GAME: Tykyrah Williams scored a team-high 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including a career-best 4-for-5 from the three-point arc against 10th-ranked West Virginia (12/18). She  also had eight rebounds and two assists. Williams' performance would make up for a one-point outing on 0-for-5 shooting in the previous game at Marshall (12/6).
 
12-DAY LAYOFF: Following their contest at Marshall (12/6), the Lady Bears had a season-long 12-day off to focus on exams. Morgan State returned to the court on Monday, Dec. 18, when they visited West Virginia. 
 
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.

THEY'RE FREE: Senior Jenessa Fauntroy is a perfect 12-for-12 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.
 
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 13.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per outing through 12 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.
 
GRAHAM RETURNS TO MORGANTOWN: Morgan State assistant coach Donchez Graham will made his return to WVU Coliseum (12/18)  when the Lady Bears took 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.
 
HORN ERUPTS FOR SEASON-HIGH: Junior transfer guard Kayla Horn scored a season-best 16 points, including 3-of-7 from three-point range at Marshall. The Romulus, Mich. native, played 35 minutes, made a total of five field goals and hit all three of her free throw attempts, all of which are season highs. She also had a season-best five rebounds and added two assists against the Thundering Herd. Horn, who has started in three of the 12 games played, currently averages 5.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
      
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.