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Game 10
Opponent: Marshall Thundering Herd (2-6)
Date: Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Site: Huntington, W.Va. (Cam Henderson Center)
Game Time: 6 p.m. 
Series Record: Marshall leads, 2-0
Watch: CUSA TV
Marshall Radio: WMUL-FM 88.1
Live Stats: www.herdzone.com
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.herdzone.com
 
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Dec. 5, 2017)-The Morgan State Lady Bears take their season-long four-game winning streak on the road when they visit Marshall in a non-conference game on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Cam Henderson Center. This will be the third meeting between the two teams with all three meetings taking place at the Cam Henderson Center. The Thundering Herd claim a 2-0 series lead.
 
A LOOK AT THE LADY BEARS: Morgan State (6-3) winners of a season-long four straight, enters Wednesday's contest coming off a 62-51 victory over visiting Florida International on Monday. With the win, the Lady Bears closed out the 2017 home schedule with a perfect 5-0 mark, while extending their home winning streak to six straight dating back to last season. Lexus Spears scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while recording three steals and two blocks. Tykyrah Williams added 14 points, a game-high nine rebounds, a game-high five assists, three steals and two blocks. Kayla Horn came off the bench to score 10 points. Morgan State has been paced by Spears, who is averaging 14.2 points and 7.4 rebounds, while Farrar is also scoring 13.0 points to go with 6.1 rebounds.
 
MSU VS. MARSHALL SERIES NOTES: Marshall holds a 2-0 series lead over Morgan State. The Thundering Herd defeated the Lady Bears last season, 62-43 on Nov. 30, 2016 in Huntington, W.Va.
 
A LOOK AT THE THUNDERING HERD: Marshall (2-5) is coming off a 64-59 loss at home to Southern Illinois (12/2). Marshall was led by Shayna Gore, who came off the bench and finished with a game-high 19 points and is now 13 points away from reaching 1,000 for her career. Gore would knock down five three-pointers, giving her 138 for her career and moving her into second-place all-time at Marshall in made three-pointers. Ashley Saintigene totaled 11 points, eight rebounds and a career-high four steals, while Talequia Hamilton finished with 10 points. Marshall has been led by Gore, who is averaging 16.6 points, while Talequia Hamilton is averaging 11.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and has a team-leading 13 blocks. Asheika Alexander is averaging 11 points and has a team-high 10 steals. Saintigene leads the Herd with 7.4 rebounds per game.     
 
NEXT UP: Morgan State will have a 12-day layoff to focus on final exams, before returning to West Virginia to face the West Virginia Mountaineers on Monday, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. in Morgantown, W.Va.   
 
FOLLOW THE LADY BEARS ON TWITTER: Morgan State women's basketball fans can follow the Lady Bears on Twitter. Check out regular updates on the team which will feature live tweets from games and on road trips. To follow the Morgan State Athletics Twitter page visit Twitter.com/MorganStBears.
 
SPEARS NAMED MEAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Morgan State senior Lexus Spears forward Lexus Spears was selected as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Women's Basketball Player of the Week, as announced by the conference office on Tuesday, Dec. 5. Spears averaged 19.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.0 blocks per game in helping Morgan State to a 3-0 record during the week. Spears shot 52 percent (25-of-50) from the floor in those three games, beginning with a career-tying 22-point, eight rebound and three block performance at Central Connecticut. She also tallied 20 points and nine rebounds against NJIT, to record 20 points or more for the third consecutive game. Spears concluded the week scoring 17 points against Florida International, while grabbing eight rebounds, blocking two shots and collecting three steals.
 
SPEARS EARNS COLLEGE SPORTS MADNESS WEEKLY HONOR: Lexus Spears was named College Sports Madness Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Women's Basketball Player of the Week as announced by the staff of College Sports Madness on Dec. 4. Spears totaled 42 points, 17 rebounds, four blocks and two steals to help Morgan State to a 2-0 week, following road wins at Central Connecticut (11/29) and a home victory over NJIT (12/2).
  
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 nine 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 on Monday. 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 CONTINUING TO ROLL: Senior Lexus Spears recorded her third straight 20-plus points game in the win over NJIT (12/2). Spears finished with a game-high 20 points, while shooting 9-of-14 from the floor and added a game-high nine rebounds against the Highlanders on Saturday. Her performance followed back-to-back career-high 22-point performances against Northeast Conference opponents Mount St. Mary's (11/26) and Central Connecticut (11/29). The 6-foot-2 forward, who is averaging a team-best 13.9 points and a team-leading 7.4 rebounds, has scored a combined 64 points, grabbed 31 rebounds, recorded four steals and eight blocks in the last three games. 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.
 
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR: Morgan State's contest against Florida International (12/4) marked the final home game for 2017. The Lady Bears will close out the month of December with four straight games 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 Jenessa Fauntroy is a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe through nine games 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. The Jacksonville, Fla., native is having her best season-ever as a Lady Bear, averaging 14.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per outing. 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.
 
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.
 
SOMEONE NEW: Morgan State has three opponents (Iowa, Central Connecticut State and UMass Lowell) on this year's schedule which it has never faced before in the program's history.
 
PUERTO RICO CLASICO MOVES TO FLORIDA: Due to damage caused by Hurricane Maria, the tournament will now be played in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at Cardinal Gibbons High School. The Lady Bears will face Iowa on Wednesday, Nov. 22 at 12:30 p.m. This will be Morgan State's second consecutive season playing in the Puerto Rico Clasico tournament.
 
REMATCH: The Lady Bears will have three rematch games this season against non-conference opponents from the 2016-17 schedule. Those opponents are Dayton, Mount Saint Mary's and Marshall. Last season Morgan State went 0-3 against those opponents.
  
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.
   
WELCOME TO THE DEN: Morgan State will welcome the addition of five newcomers to the 2017-18 squad with junior transfers, Kayla Horn (Kansas City Kansas CC) and Naomi Bolasingh (Northwest Florida State College), as well as 2016-17 junior transfers Adre'onia Coleman (Monroe CC) and Aunesha Williams (Gardner-Webb), along with freshman Kelbi Lewis (Hillside HS in Durham, N.C.).
 
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.