Game 27 (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Contest)
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (7-19, 5-8 MEAC) vs. Hampton "Lady Pirates" (14-12, 8-5 MEAC)
Date: February 25, 2017 | 2 p.m.
Place: Baltimore, Md. | Hill Field House
Series: Hampton leads, 30-11
Video Stream: morganstatebears.com
Live Stats: morganstatebears.com
Radio: WEAA 88.9 FM
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Feb. 23, 2017)-Morgan State will look to extend its five-game winning streak, as well as a four-game home winning streak when it hosts the Hampton Lady Pirates on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. at Hill Field House. It will be the only regular season meeting this season between the two teams.
 
BEAR CLAWS: Morgan State (7-19, 5-8 MEAC) enters the contest on a five-game winning streak, after defeating Delaware State 71-52 on Monday evening in Dover. Braennan Farrar and Tykyrah Williams each scored a game-high 16 points and Chelsea Mitchell added 14 points. Mitchell pulled down a game-high nine rebounds and Williams finished with seven to help the Lady Bears outrebound the Hornets, 46-28. Farrar has paced Morgan State in scoring (12.3), steals (61) and assists (68), while Williams is adding 10.5 points. White leads Morgan State with 6.3 rebounds per game.
 
PIRATES LOG: Hampton (14-12, 8-5 MEAC) losers of three straight and five of their last six games, is coming off a 62-44 road loss at Florida A&M (2/20). Monnaz Finney-Smith scored a team-high 16 points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds in the loss. The Lady Pirates have been led by Finney-Smith, who is averaging 11.9 points per game and is pulling down 5.3 rebounds. Kaylah Lupoe leads Hampton with 6.1 rebounds and is adding 7.2 points. The Lady Pirates are averaging 60.4 points per game, while giving up 59.4 points. Hampton is 3-10 this season on the road, including 3-3 in MEAC road game.    
 
MSU VS. HIU SERIES NOTES: Hampton leads the all-time series, 30-11. The Lady Pirates have won 12 straight over Morgan State, including a 60-47 victory last season in Hampton, Va. (2/15/16). The Lady Bears' last win over Hampton came on Feb. 23, 2009, a 90-87 overtime victory at Hampton. Morgan State's last win at home over Hampton was a 73-54 victory on Feb. 25, 2008 at Hill Field House.
 
NEXT UP: The Lady Bears host rival Coppin State on Monday, Feb. 27 at 5:30 p.m. for 'White Out Night' at Hill Field House. It will be the home finale for Morgan State, as well as 'Senior Night' for the Lady Bears' Ivy Harrington and Britashia Burns. Graduate student Jayde Duncan will also be playing in her final home contest.
 
SECOND HALF TURNAROUND: After dropping their first eight MEAC contests and going winless in the month of January, Morgan State has since won their first five games during the second half of the conference slate and is a perfect 5-0 in the month of February.
 
FIVE STRAIGHT: Morgan State recorded its first five-game winning streak of the season, following its 71-52 victory at Delaware State (2/20). It's the first multi-game winning streak since the Lady Bears won five straight last season from Jan. 30-Feb. 13.
 
IT TAKES A THEIF: The Lady Bears have recorded 298 steals as a team in 26 games played thus far, surpassing the 249 steals a season ago in 30 games played. Breannan Farrar leads the way with a team-best 61, while Chelsea Mitchell and Jihayah Chavis have 39 and 36 steals, respectively. Tykyrah Williams has 34 steals.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS: Morgan State currently ranks 31st in the nation in turnover margin at 4.73 per game. Morgan State is also 37th in the nation in scoring defense, holding its opponents to 57.3 points per outing.
 
BACK IN THE HIVE: Morgan State head coach Ed Davis made his first trip back to Memorial Hall (2/20) as an opposing head coach and guided the Lady Bears to a 50-43 victory. Davis, who once patrolled the sidelines for 12 seasons as the head coach of Delaware State Hornets, has yet to lose a game in four trips to Memorial Hall since joining Morgan State as an assistant during the 2012-13 season.
 
MOVING UP: Braennan Farrar scored 16 points in the win over Delaware State (2/20), giving her 1,140 points for her career, which ranks 10th-place on the Morgan State charts.
 
MORGAN AND COPPIN IN HOME FINALE: The Lady Bears and crosstown rival Coppin State will meet in the home finale for Morgan State on Monday, Feb. 27. Tip-off will be at 5:30 p.m. at Hill Field House. The contest will also mark 'Senior Day' for Ivy Harrington, and former Lady Bear and manager Britashia Burns. Graduate student Jayde Duncan will also be playing in her final home game.
 
SEE YOU SOON: Morgan State and Delaware State met twice this season in a span of nine days. The two closed out their regular season series on Monday, Feb. 20 with the Lady Bears defeating the Hornets, 71-52 at Memorial Hall in Dover, Del. The two teams previously met on Feb. 11 in Baltimore, a game Morgan State also won, 74-49.
 
ROAD STRUGGLES: The Lady Bears have struggled on the road this season and are 3-14 away from Hill Field House. However, Morgan State has won its last two road games after the win at Delaware State (2/20). Morgan State ended an eight-game road losing streak this season, following a huge 73-72 victory at Howard (2/13).
 
ALL FIVE INVOLVED: For the first time this season, all five starters scored in double figures in the Lady Bears' victory over Delaware State (2/11). Morgan State's starting five combined for 56 of the 74 points scored in a 74-47 win over the Hornets. Zuri White, Jihaya Chavis and Braennan Farrar all scored 12 points, while Chelsea Mitchell and Tykyrah Williams each added 10 points.
 
IT'S OVER: The Lady Bears' season-long 13-game losing streak came to an end, following a 44-42 victory over North Carolina Central (2/4). The streak surpassed the five-game losing skid Morgan State had earlier in the season and was the longest losing skid for the program since the 2013-14 squad lost 15 consecutive games.
 
MEAC STREAK COMES TO AN END: The Lady Bears picked up their first MEAC victory of the season with a 44-42 victory over North Carolina Central (2/4) at Hill Field House. Prior to the victory, Morgan State had dropped its last 11 straight MEAC regular season contests, dating back to the last three games from the 2015-16 season. Ironically Morgan State's previous regular season MEAC victory also came against North Carolina Central (2/20/16), a 66-55 victory at home.
 
LADY BEARS ASSIST ORANGEBURG COMMUNITY: During the Lady Bears' trip to Orangeburg, SC (1/22-23), the team 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.