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Game 31
Opponent: Hampton "Lady Pirates" (16-13, 12-4 MEAC)
Date: Monday, March 8, 2018
Site: Norfolk, Va. (Norfolk Scope Arena)
Game Time: 12 p.m. 
Series Record: Hampton leads series, 31-11
Watch: ESPN3.com
Live Stats: meachoops.com
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.hamptonpirates.com
 
NORFOLK, Va. (March 7, 2018)-The sixth-seeded Morgan State Lady Bears will take on the #3 seed and defending tournament champion, Hampton Lady Pirates in a MEAC Quarterfinal game on Thursday, March 8 at noon at the Norfolk Scope Arena. Morgan State will be making their first quarterfinal appearance since a 63-53 loss to Coppin State in 2016. Thursday's contest will be the fourth meeting in the MEAC Tournament between the two teams with Hampton holding a 2-1 advantage. Morgan State won the last meeting, 63-59 in the 2007 MEAC Quarterfinals.
 
BEAR CLAWS: Morgan State (16-14, 8-8 MEAC) is coming off a 58-51 MEAC first round victory over #11 Coppin State on Monday. It was the Lady Bears' first MEAC Tournament win since defeating North Carolina Central, 52-42 in the first round of the 2016 Tournament. Tykyrah Williams recorded a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds, both game highs, while Lexus Spears also had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Spears, a MEAC third team selection, has led the Lady Bears with 14.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Farrar is scoring 11.6 points and Tykyrah Williams is adding 10.9 points per game.
 
PIRATES LOG: Hampton (16-13, 12-4 MEAC) closed out the regular season winning its last five games, including a 70-56 defeat of rival Norfolk State on the road (3/1). Monnazjea Finney-Smith scored a game-high 23 points, while knocking down five three-pointers. Mikayla Sayle finished with 17 points and Ashley Bates added 10. Finney-Smith and Bates each grabbed a team-best nine rebounds in the win at Norfolk State. Finney-Smith, who was named to the MEAC second team, has paced Hampton this season with a team-leading 12.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest. Jephany Brown, a third-team All-MEAC selection, is averaging 10.7 points per game.
 
MSU VS. HIU SERIES NOTES: Hampton leads the all-time series, 31-11. The Lady Pirates have won 14 straight over Morgan State, including a 63-60 victory this season in Hampton (2/24). The Lady Bears' last win over Hampton came on Feb. 23, 2009, a 90-87 overtime victory at Hampton.
 
NEXT UP: If the Lady Bears defeat Hampton on Thursday, March 8, they will advance to the MEAC Semifinal round on Friday at 2 p.m. against the winner of Wednesday's quarterfinal game between #2 Bethune-Cookman and #7 Maryland Eastern Shore.
 
LADY BEARS WIN MEAC TOURNAMENT OPENER: Morgan State began the 2018 MEAC Tournament with a 58-51 victory over rival Coppin State in the first round. It was the Lady Bears' first tournament victory since a first round win over North Carolina Central in 2016.
 
HOLD UM UNDER 60 POINTS: Morgan State improved to 14-1 this season when holding its opponents under 60 points, following a 58-51 victory over Coppin State in the MEAC first round (3/5). During the Lady Bears' season-long  four-game winning streak (Dec. 28-Jan. 8), Morgan State held three of those opponents to under 60 points. Of those 12 victories, three times (Lincoln-Pa., Central Connecticut, Savannah State) the Lady Bears surrendered an opponent low 41 points.
 
WILLIAMS, SPEARS RECORD DOUBLE-DOUBLES: Tykyrah Williams and Lexus Spears each recorded double-doubles in the first round win against Coppin State. Williams finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, both game highs, while Spears added 14 points and 12 rebounds. It was the fifth double-double this season for Williams and the fourth for Spears.
 
SPEARS NAMED TO MEAC THIRD TEAM: Senior forward Lexus Spears was named to the All-MEAC third team as announced by the league office. It is the first all-conference selection for Spears, who also became the first Lady Bear player to earn all-league honors under second-year head coach Ed Davis. Morgan State, which last season had its string of 11 straight years with an all-conference selection snapped, has now had a player named to the all-conference team in 12 of the last 13 years. Spears reached double figures in scoring 24 times this season, including the last 11 games to conclude the regular season. She tallied three double-doubles and five 20-point games, including a career-high 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting in the home finale against Coppin State (2/26). Spears would also set a career highs for rebounds this season with 16 against Bethune-Cookman (2/19), while also adding 15 points and two steals. Spears, who would rank among the league leaders in three categories at the end of the regular season, led the MEAC in field goal percentage (.540), was seventh in scoring (14.1) and ninth in rebounding (7.5).
 
FARRAR ON THE RISE: Braennan "BeBe" Farrar continues to make her move up several of Morgan State's statistical charts. Farrar scored 15 points against Coppin State (2/26) and moved past Tracey Carrington (1,336 points from 2011-15) into third-place all-time in scoring at Morgan State. Farrar scored five points against Coppin State on Monday, giving her 1,570 career points, and is now five points away from passing June Walton (1,574 from 1978-81) for second all-time in scoring. On Feb. 19, Farrar recorded three assists against Bethune-Cookman to move into second-place all-time at Morgan State in assists with 342. She now has 359 assists. The St. Louis, Mo. native currently sits in fourth-place all-time in steals at Morgan State with 274.
 
WILLIAMS JOINS 1,000 PTS/500 REBS CLUB: Tykyrah Williams became the seventh Lady Bear player to join the 1,000 points and 500 rebounds club at Morgan State. Williams scored her 1,001st point at home against Bethune-Cookman (2/19). Williams became the 12th player to record 500 rebounds at Morgan State when she pulled down seven boards at N.C. A&T (1/13) to give her 501 for her career. Williams currently has 1,058 points, which is tied for 14th and 584 rebounds for her career, which ranks 10th.
 
SPEARS JOINS 500 REBOUND CLUB: Senior forward Lexus Spears pulled down six rebounds against South Carolina State (1/29), giving her 501 career rebounds at Morgan State to become the 13th Lady Bear to grab 500 rebounds. Spears, who played in just three games last season due to an injury, has pulled down a team-leading 217 rebounds this season for an average of 7.5 rebounds per game. She grabbed a game-high nine boards in the season finale at Delaware State (3/1) and now has 582 career rebounds, which ranks 11th on the Morgan State charts.
 
SPEARS EARNS THIRD MEAC WEEKLY HONOR: Lexus Spears was named MEAC Player of the Week on Tuesday, Feb. 26. It was her third MEAC weekly honor this season. Spears, a native of Jacksonville, Fla., shot a combined 20-for-25 (.800) from the floor, while averaging 22 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals in two games. She grabbed a game-high 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting, while grabbing five rebounds and two steals at Hampton  (2/24). She followed that up with a career-high 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds, while recording a block and a steal in a win over rival Coppin State (2/26).
 
LOCK DOWN DEFENSE: Three times this season Morgan State has held an opponent to just three points in a quarter. Each time, the Lady Bears held the opponent to one field goal and a free throw in the quarter. Coppin State became the latest victim, when Morgan State held them to three points in the third quarter on Feb. 26.
            -at Savannah State (2/10), 4th quarter
            -at Florida A&M (2/12), 3rd quarter
            -vs. Coppin State (2/26), 3rd quarter
 
PROTECTING HOME: The Lady Bears, who have had one of their most successful seasons at home in recent years, closed out the 2017-18 home slate with a 10-3 mark, following their 73-59 victory over rival Coppin State (2/26). It's the best home record since the 2009-10 team finished 9-1 at Hill Field House. The 10 victories also rank second most at home in the last 15 seasons to the 2008-09 team, which went 12-4. Morgan State began the season 8-0 at home and was riding a nine-game home winning streak dating back to last season, before falling to Delaware State, 64-52 on Jan. 22, 2018 for its first home loss.
 
ROAD WOES: Morgan State fell to a combined 5-11 (including loss to Iowa at neutral site) away from Hill Field House this season, following it's 60-56 loss at Delaware State (3/1). The Lady Bears ended the regular season on a two-game road losing skid.
 
SO CLOSE: The Lady Bears' 67-60 loss at North Carolina A&T (1/13) put an end to not only Morgan State's 3-0 MEAC start, but a chance for the Lady Bears to set a school record by starting a season winning their first four MEAC games.
 
LADY BEARS SCORE SCHOOL RECORD 123 POINTS: The Lady Bears' 123 points in their victory over Cheyney (11/13) set a new school record for points in a game by Morgan State. The previous mark was 115 points against the University of Baltimore (1/17/83). The 70-point victory is the second largest margin of victory in school history behind an 82-point (102-20) victory over Coppin State (2/13/77).
 
DAVIS A THREE-TIME HALL OF FAMER: Morgan State head coach Ed Davis Jr. was inducted into his third Hall of Fame in September 2017, when his 2006-07 Delaware State women's basketball team was inducted for capturing the 2007 MEAC title. Davis was also inducted into the Bowie State University Hall of Fame in 2014 as a coach, where he guided the Lady Bulldogs to three CIAA titles and a pair of Division II "Sweet 16" appearances and in 2008 he was inducted into the West Virginia State University Hall of Fame as a basketball player.