Game 28 (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Contest)
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (7-20, 5-9 MEAC) vs. Coppin State "Eagles" (8-18, 8-6 MEAC)
Date: February 27, 2017 | 5:30 p.m.
Place: Baltimore, Md. | Hill Field House
Series: Coppin State leads, 40-31
Video Stream: morganstatebears.com
Live Stats: morganstatebears.com
Radio: WEAA 88.9 FM
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Feb. 26, 2017)-The Lady Bears will look to close out their home finale in style when they welcome crosstown rival Coppin State to Hill Field House on Monday evening for Senior Night. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m. and will also be 'White Out' night, as fans are encouraged to wear white. The contest will be the final home appearance for seniors Britashia Burns, Ivy Harrington and graduate student Jayde Duncan.
 
BEAR CLAWS: Morgan State (7-20, 5-9 MEAC) had its season-long five-game winning streak snapped by Hampton on Saturday, following a 71-58 decision. The loss also ended a season-best three-game home winning streak. Braennan Farrar led Morgan State with 19 points, while Chelsea Mitchell added 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Tykyrah Williams finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. Farrar, who has led the team all season long in scoring, is averaging 12.6 points, while Williams is contributing 10.5 points and 5.8 rebounds. Zuri White leads the Lady Bears in rebounding with 6.3 per contest.
 
BIRD SEED: Coppin State (8-18, 8-6 MEAC) has been idle since its 59-47 victory at Savannah State on Feb. 20. The win was the third straight for Coppin State. Genesis Lucas led the Eagles with 17 points, seven assists and four steals. Chance Graham recorded a double-double with 14 rebounds and 12 points, while Keena Samuels scored 16 points. Chandice Beverly finished with 10 rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals in the win. Coppin State has been led by Lucas, who is scoring 13.6 points per game and Samuels, who is adding 13 points per outing. Graham leads the team with 8.6 rebounds a game.
 
MSU VS. CSU SERIES NOTES: The Eagles hold a 40-31 all-time series lead over Morgan State. Coppin State has won three straight over the Lady Bears, including this season's first meeting, 61-45 on Jan. 28 at Coppin.
 
NEXT UP: The Lady Bears will close out the regular season on Thursday, March 3 at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. at the Hytche Athletic Center in Princess Anne, Md.
 
SECOND HALF TURNAROUND: After dropping their first eight MEAC contests and going winless in the month of January, Morgan State had since won their first five games during the second half of the conference slate and was a perfect 5-0 in the month of February, prior to Saturday's loss to Hampton.
 
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 306 steals as a team in 27 games played thus far, surpassing the 249 steals a season ago in 30 games played. Breannan Farrar leads the way with a team-best 63, while Chelsea Mitchell and Jihayah Chavis have 41 and 37 steals, respectively. Tykyrah Williams has 35 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 19 points in the loss to Hampton (2/25), giving her 1,159 points for her career, which ranks 10th-place on the Morgan State charts. Farrar is now 32 points away from surpassing former Lady Bear Adrienne Bond (1,190 points from 1982-86) for ninth all-time at Morgan State.
 
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.