GREENSBORO, N.C. (Jan. 13, 2018)-Searching for its third road victory of the season and a chance to make school history, the Lady Bears held a 12-point first half lead on the road, but in the end it was the Lady Aggies who remained unbeaten in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play. North Carolina A&T would defeat the visiting Lady Bears, 67-60 on Saturday afternoon at the Corbett Sports Center.
The loss was the seventh straight for Morgan State (10-7, 3-1 MEAC) against N.C. A&T, and prevented the Lady Bears from starting 4-0 in MEAC play for the first-time ever in school history. The loss also put an end to Morgan State's season-long four-game winning streak.
Morgan State was led by
Adre'onia Coleman, who scored 10 of her team-high 14 points in the first half and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
Tykyrah Williams had 14 points and seven rebounds, before fouling out to join the 500 rebound club at Morgan State with 501 for her career.
Lexus Spears, also fouled out, but finished with 13 points.
The Lady Aggies (7-7, 2-0 MEAC) shot 40 free throws, connecting on 22 of them for 55 percent, while Morgan State went to the line 22 times and knocked down 16 for 72 percent. The hosts outscored the Lady Bears, 38-7 in bench points.
Shantell Bostick and Cinia McCray each came off the bench to score 14 points. Kala Green, who was the lone starter in double figures, added 13 points for N.C. A&T in its MEAC home opener.
Morgan State used a 13-2 run over the span of nearly seven minutes from the final 3:05 of the first quarter, to take its largest lead of the first half at 26-14 with 6:52 left in the second period.
A jumper by Coleman gave the guests a 32-23 advantage with 1:23 remaining, but the Lady Aggies would hold Morgan State scoreless the rest of the way. N.C. A&T would score the final seven points in the half, capped off by a three-pointer from the left elbow to cut the Morgan State lead to 32-30 at halftime.
The Lady Aggies would score the first five points to start the third quarter and take a 35-32 lead. A jumper by Coleman ended N.C. A&T's 12-0 run and Williams hit two free throws to put the Lady Bears ahead 36-35 with 7:48 left in the period. The teams would trade leads throughout the quarter and the Lady Bears trailed 45-44 at the end of the third.
A layup by Spears with 4:20 remaining in the contest, evened the score at 56 all. N.C. A&T would then score the next four points in part of a 10-2 spurt to take a 66-58 lead with 51 seconds left to secure the victory.
Morgan State will conclude its trip to the Old North State when it travels to Durham to take on the Eagles of North Carolina Central on Monday, Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. at McDougald-McLendon Arena. The Eagles (4-12, 2-1 MEAC) were a 60-52 winner over Coppin State on Saturday.
