DURHAM, N.C. (Jan. 15, 2018)-The Morgan State Lady Bears' basketball team wrapped up a not so good trip to the Old North State on Monday afternoon, falling to North Carolina Central (NCCU), 60-57 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) game at McDougald-McLendon Arena.

The loss was the Lady Bears' second on their road swing through the Tarheel State, after falling to North Carolina A&T (N.C. A&T) on Saturday. Monday's defeat to the Eagles, ended a three-game winning streak over NCCU, as Morgan State now leads the all-time series, 10-5.

Morgan State (10-8, 3-2 MEAC), which entered the weekend on a four-game winning streak and in a first-place tie with Bethune-Cookman, now sits in sixth-place in the league standings after the two losses.

Durham native Tykyrah Williams scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to record a double-double and recorded a game-high four steals in her final game as a Lady Bear in her hometown. Adre'onia Coleman finished with 11 points, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals, while Lexus Spears fell shy of a double-double with eight points, 10 rebounds and added a game-high three blocked shots.

Alyssa Thompson came off the bench to lead the host Eagles with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting and nine rebounds. Paulina Afriyie totaled a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while recording three assists, three blocks and three steals.  

Morgan State shot 24-for-63 (38 percent) from the floor, including 5-for-21 from three-point range. NCCU shot 34.5 percent (19-for-55) for the game and was 0-for-10 from beyond the arc.

But what stood out the most, was once again the disparity in free throw shooting. It's something the Lady Bears have been dealing with for the majority of the season, but especially since getting into conference play. The Lady Bears have yet to shoot more free throws than their opponent in each of the five MEAC games played. In those games, MEAC opponents have taken a combined 168 free throw attempts, while Morgan State took 96. Just this weekend alone, the Lady Bears went to the charity line a total of 30 times, while the two North Carolina schools went a combined 71 times.

In Saturday's seven-point loss to N.C. A&T, the host Lady Aggies took an opponent-high 40 free throw attempts and made 22. Morgan State took 22 for the game and made 16. 

North Carolina Central shot 31 free throw attempts on Monday and made 22 for 71 percent. Grant it 10 of those attempts came in the final 40 seconds when Morgan State was trying to extend the game by stopping the clock. But the Lady Bears only took a total of eight free throws for the game, making four of them.

Nonetheless, Morgan State still had an opportunity to possibly put North Carolina Central away early and it didn't. 

The Lady Bears scored consecutive points in the part of an 11-2 run to take an 18-8 lead after a quarter of play. Morgan State took its largest lead of the contest at 11 points (20-9) on a tip-in by Aunesha Williams with 9:22 left in the second quarter.

The host Eagles countered with a 13-2 run to pull within 23-21 after Thompson knocked down a free throw to complete a three-point play with 2:06 left in the second quarter. Morgan State would take a 26-24 advantage into the lockerroom.

Kayla Horn broke a 34 all game with a three-pointer to put the Lady Bears up three points with 1:57 to play in the third quarter and later raced up the floor and scored on a layup as time expired to give Morgan State a 39-36 lead after three quarters.

The Eagles took the lead for good on a free throw by Afriyie, giving the hosts a 44-43 lead with 5:15 left to play. NCCU's lead would grow to seven points (54-47) when Rodneysha Martin drained both free throws with 39 seconds to play.

Spears scored on a layup with 26 seconds to make it 56-51 and Naomi Bolansingh later knocked down a trey to make it a three-point contest (57-54) with 19 seconds remaining. The Eagles would push the lead back up to six (60-54), following three straight free throws, before Tykyrah Williams came down and drained a three-pointer at the top of the key with .8 seconds left for the game's 60-57 final.

The Lady Bears outscored NCCU, 34-24 in the paint and held a 10-2 advantage in fast break points. The host Eagles held a 29-16 advantage in bench points.

Morgan State forced 18 NCCU turnovers, 12 of which were steals. The Lady Bears however, had 20 turnovers themselves. 

The Lady Bears return to Baltimore to take on crosstown rival Coppin State on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 2 p.m. at the Physical Education Complex.