Game 15 (MEAC Opener)
Opponent: vs. Maryland Eastern Shore (4-9, 0-0 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019
Site: Baltimore, Md. | Hill Field House
Tip-Off: 2 p.m.
Series Record: MDES leads, 41-37
TV: None
Live Video: here | Live Stats: here
Radio: WEAA 88.9 FM
Gameday: here  
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 4, 2019)-The Morgan State women's basketball team will begin the New Year at home this Saturday, when it welcomes the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (MDES) to Hill Field House for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) opener for both teams. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. This will be the second straight season the two programs will open up MEAC play against each other in Baltimore. Morgan State won last season's league opener, 63-50 (1/3/18).
 
BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears (2-12) ended 2018 on a high note with a 61-49 non-conference victory over UMass Lowell (12/29). The win capped off Morgan State's non-conference portion of its schedule and put to rest an 11-game losing skid for the Lady Bears. Adre'onia Coleman recorded a double-double with 21 points and 15 rebounds, both game highs. Ashia McCalla came off the bench to score 15 points and had four rebounds and Naomi Bolasingh finished with nine points, as Morgan State improved to 2-0 all-time against the River Hawks. Coleman has paced the Lady Bears with 15.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, both team highs. Coleman also leads the team in blocks with eight and is second in steals with 23. McCalla is adding 8.5 points and 4.2 rebounds, while Jihayah Chavis and Bolasingh each are scoring 7.9 points. Chavis leads the team in steals (25) and assists (30).
 
A LOOK AT MDES: The Hawks (4-9) have won two of their last three games, including a 73-67 overtime win at UMBC (12/31) to end 2018. Ciani Byrom scored a game-high 23 points to lead four MDES players in double figures scoring. Bairesha Gill-Miles recorded a double-double with 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while Keyera Eaton also tallied a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds and had a game-high five steals. Adrienne Jones came off the bench to score 16 points. The Hawks forced 16 turnovers out of UMBC. Byrom is averaging 15.3 points per game, while Eaton is scoring 12.3 points per outing to lead the Hawks. Both players have knocked down a team-best 26 three-pointers. Byrom also leads MDES with 50 assists, while Eaton leads the team with 22 steals. Gill-Miles is grabbing a team-high 7.4 rebounds to go with 9.6 points.  
 
SERIES NOTES: Maryland Eastern Shore leads the all-time series, 41-37. Morgan State has won two straight and three of the last four meetings. The Lady Bears defeated the Hawks in last season's MEAC opener, 63-50 in Baltimore (1/3/18).
 
NEXT UP: Morgan State will welcome Savannah State to Hill Field House on Monday, Jan. 7 at 5:30 p.m. It will be the final meeting between the two teams in Baltimore as members of the MEAC. Savannah State will leave both the conference and the Division I level at the end of the 2018-19 athletic season and return to Division II and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC).
 
DAVIS RECORDS VICTORY No. 370: Morgan State head coach Ed Davis Jr. recorded career coaching victory 370, following the Lady Bears' win over UMass Lowell (12/29). Davis, who is in his seventh season with the Lady Bears and third as head coach, has an overall record of 370-291. He has guided his teams to a total of four NCAA Tournament appearances, while at Bowie State (3) and Delaware State (1) and two Division II Sweet 16 appearances.
 
COLEMAN HAS CAREER DAY: Senior Adre'onia Coleman scored a career-high 26 points in the Lady Bears' loss to UMBC (12/20). The 5-foot-10 forward, shot 8-of-16 from the floor, while adding six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block against the Retrievers.
 
REMATCH: Five of the Lady Bears' non-conference opponents (Lincoln-Pa., Central Connecticut, Florida International, West Virginia, UMass Lowell) will be rematches from the 2017-18 campaign. Morgan State went 4-1 a year ago against those opponents with its lone loss coming at then 10th-ranked West Virginia. Morgan State finished 1-4 this season in those rematch games with the lone win coming against UMass Lowell (12/29).
 
LADY BEARS TAKE IN NBA GAME IN MOTOWN: The Lady Bears concluded their trip to Ann Arbor, Mich., by attending the Boston Celtics-Detroit Pistons game on Saturday, Dec. 15 at the new Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit. Following the game the team got to go on the court and attempt a free throw shot, before meeting and taking pictures with Celtics players Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. The host Pistons defeated Boston, 113-104. It was the first time the program caught an NBA game since 2014, when they went to Phillips Arena to see the home team Atlanta Hawks take on the Utah Jazz, prior to the Lady Bears' season opener at the University of Georgia.
 
GRAHAM RETURNS TO MORGANTOWN: Morgan State assistant coach Donchez Graham made his second consecutive return to WVU Coliseum when the Lady Bears took on West Virginia (12/18). Graham served as an assistant coach on the Mountaineers' staff during the 2009-10 season. WVU would finish the season with a 29-6 record, including a berth in the Big East Conference Championship game and a second round appearance in the NCAA Tournament. At the time it was the winningest season in school history.
 
HOMECOMING FOR HORN: Morgan State's game at Michigan (12/18) marked a homecoming of sorts for senior guard Kayla Horn. A native of nearby Romulus, Mich., Horn, who never attended a Michigan basketball game while growing up, will now play against the hometown Wolverines in front of family and friends. The game was extra special for Horn, as it was the first collegiate game her parents got to see her play.
 
13-DAY LAYOFF: The Lady Bears ended a season-long 13-day layoff when they took the floor against the University of Michigan (12/18). It was Morgan State's first game since playing at Florida International on Dec. 2. The layoff was so that Morgan State could focus on final exams.
 
SOMEONE NEW: Morgan State squared off this season against two first-time opponents in Western Kentucky (11/28) and Michigan (12/15). Both contests were on the road.
 
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.