DURHAM, N.C. (Jan. 21, 2019)-The Morgan State women's basketball team entered Saturday's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) game at North Carolina Central (NCCU) winless on the road this season. In fact, the Lady Bears hadn't won a true road contest since Feb. 12, 2018, when they defeated Florida A&M, 59-44 in Tallahassee, Fla.
 
Behind Adre'onia Coleman's double-double with a game-high 21 points and a team-leading 12 rebounds, and 15 points from Jihayah Chavis, Morgan State defeated NCCU, 65-62 at McDougald-McLendon Arena.
 
The win marked the Lady Bears' (5-15, 3-3 MEAC) first victory of the season away from Hill Field House, ending an 0-11 start, including three neutral site losses. It was also the first true road victory of the 2018-19 campaign, ending a 10-game road losing streak dating back to the final two regular season losses last season.
 
Coleman, who bounced back from a four-point outing in Saturday's loss at North Carolina A&T, knocked down 11-of-14 free throws. Ashia McCalla came off the bench to score 12 points, including 7-of-8 from the charity stripe and grabbed seven rebounds, as Morgan State ended a three-game losing streak to the Lady Eagles in Durham. Kayla Horn added eight points and pulled down six boards, five of which were defensive, to help the Lady Bears hold a 42-41 rebounding advantage over the taller Eagles.
 
Monday's contest was a game of runs in the first half. After falling behind 4-2, Morgan State used a 7-0 spurt to take a 9-4 lead after a basket from Naomi Bolasingh with 5:08 left in the first period. The Lady Bears then used an 11-2 run to take their largest lead of the first half at nine points (24-15), capped off by back-to-back layups by Chavis with 6:08 left in the second quarter.
 
NCCU (4-14, 1-4 MEAC) countered with a run of its own, using a 12-0 spurt to take a 27-24 advantage over the Lady Bears with 2:39 to play in the half. The Eagles would hold a 29-28 lead at the intermission.
 
Morgan State took a 56-50 lead with 3:21 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Eagles would not go away, scoring the next four points to pull within, 56-54 on a jumper by Shontai Totten with 1:47 left in the game.
 
The Lady Bears, which shot 71 percent (23-of-32) from the free throw line, would score their final nine points from the free throw line. Coleman hit four straight free throws and McCalla added two, to up Morgan's lead to six points (62-56) with 29 seconds left.
 
McCalla hit two more free throws with 16 seconds left to close out the scoring for Morgan State and give the Lady Bears a 65-60 lead.
 
NCCU was led by Rodneysha Martin, who finished with 15 points. Paulina Afriyie recorded a double-double with a game-high 17 rebounds and 11 points. Totten scored 13 and Kieche White finished with 10.
 
The Lady Bears return home to host Bethune-Cookman on Saturday, Jan. 26 at Hill Field House. Fans are encouraged to note that it will be a special 1 p.m. tip-off instead of the traditional 2 p.m. start. Bethune-Cookman (9-8, 2-3 MEAC) was dealt a 64-52 loss at home to Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday.