HAMPTON, Va. (Feb. 24, 2018)-Lexus Spears scored a game-high 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting and Tykyrah Williams fell shy of a double-double with 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds, but it wasn't enough, as Hampton came-from-behind to defeat Morgan State, 63-60 on Saturday afternoon at the HU Convocation Center.

Hampton improved to 15-13 overall and 11-4 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), while Morgan State fell to 14-13, 7-7 MEAC). 

The game was the final MEAC regular season contest between the two programs, as Hampton has announced that it will leave the MEAC and join the Big South Conference for the 2018-19 athletic season.

Despite 26 Morgan State turnovers, the game was decided on the free throw line, where Hampton was awarded a whopping 37 free throw attempts in its home finale, making 24 of them for 64.9 percent. Morgan State would go to the free throw line just 11 times and connected on 10 for 90.9 percent.

The Lady Pirates were led by Mikayla Sayle, who finished with 18 points and had seven rebounds. Ashley Bates shot 4-for-4 and finished with 12 points, while Monnazjea Finney-Smith tallied 11 points, as Hampton dealt the Lady Bears their 14th straight loss in the series. 

Saturday's contest marked the second straight loss for Morgan State against one of the top three teams in the league, where the Lady Bears held a lead and lost. Last Monday the Lady Bears held a six-point advantage with 1:41 left in the game and were on the verge of handing unbeaten Bethune-Cookman its first loss, only to fall 64-57 in overtime.

Tonight, Morgan State built a 14-point (41-27) lead with 3:14 left in the third quarter against third-place Hampton when Braennan Farrar (12 points, four steals) knocked down four straight free throws as a result of two unsportsmanlike fouls on two separate Hampton players.

Morgan State would also receive the ball, but a steal led to a quick layup by Finney-Smith and two free throws by Sayle, cut the Lady Bears' lead to 41-31 with 2:34 left in the third.

Back-to-back layups by Spears each gave Morgan State a 14-point lead, with the last coming with 22 seconds left to put the Lady Bears in front 48-34. Six seconds later Sayle, who went 10-for-14 from the charity line, hit two more free throws to cut the deficit to 48-36 at the end of three quarters.

Farrar's layup at the 9:16 mark of the fourth quarter gave Morgan State a 50-38 lead. That would be the last points for the Lady Bears for nearly six minutes. Morgan State would turn the ball over eight times during that span and Hampton would go on a 16-0 spurt to take a 54-50 lead with 4:06 to play.

Williams would end Hampton's run with a layup at the 3:41 mark to make the score 54-52. The Lady Pirates extended their lead to five points (58-53) with 1:30 left, but Morgan State went on a mini 5-0 run with Jihayah Chavis knocking down a three-pointer from the left corner and Spears scored on a layup to even the score at 58 all with 34 seconds left in the contest.

Finney-Smith, who was 3-for-10 from three-point range, shot all but one of Hampton's three-pointer attempts and accounted for all of the Lady Pirates' made three-pointers, launched a shot from the left elbow. Initially her three-point attempt looked like it would be no good, however, the ball changed direction as it approached the rim and started going towards the right, like the top of an upside down 'L' or that or a backwards '7' and went in, giving the hosts a 61-58 lead with 9.9 remaining in the game.

Chavis drove the baseline and scored on a layup to cut the deficit to a point at 61-60 with two seconds left. Hampton would close out the game with two more free throws for the 63-60 victory.

The Lady Bears will host crosstown rival Coppin State on Monday, Feb. 26 at 5:30 p.m. at Hill Field House. The game will be the home finale for Morgan State, as well as 'Senior Night' for five Lady Bear players (Braennan Farrar, Tykyrah Williams, Lexus Spears, Tayler Miller and Janessa Fauntroy, who will play in their final home game as a Lady Bear.

Coppin State (6-20, 5-9 MEAC) which was off on Saturday, last played on Monday, Feb. 19, a 70-66 loss at Delaware State.