HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (Nov. 21, 2019)-Dahnye Redd scored a game-high 19 points and Ashia McCalla added 11, as Morgan State picked up its first win over a NCAA Division I opponent this season, defeating Marshall, 57-52 at the Cam Henderson Center on Thursday evening. The win was the Lady Bears' first over the Thundering Herd in four tries.
Chelsea Mitchell grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to go with seven points and a game-high four steals, as Morgan State (3-3) earned its first win over a Conference USA opponent since defeating Florida International, 62-51 in Baltimore on (12/4/17).
The loss was Marshall's first of the season at home in four contests, as well as its lone defeat this season to a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponent – after defeating Norfolk State (11/9) and Coppin State (11/19) two days prior to hosting Morgan State.
The Thundering Herd (3-2) was led by Khadaijia Brooks and Taylor Pearson, who each scored a team-high 13 points and Pearson grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Savannah Wheeler came off the bench to score 11 points and dished out a game-high four assists.
Morgan State fell behind 11-1 in the opening period, but behind its defensive pressure, closed out the first stanza with an 11-3 spurt to pull within 14-12 after a quarter of play.
Trailing 23-18 in the second quarter, the Lady Bears again stepped up their defense and used an 8-0 run capped off by a layup from Mitchell to give the guests a 26-23 advantage with 1:51 left in the quarter. Nine seconds later Paige Shy knocked down a trey to even the score at 26 all, which would stand going into the intermission.
Marshall increased its lead to as much as eight points in the third quarter on a layup by Kia Sivils with 4:44 remaining in the period. But Morgan State again would not go away. Ja'Niah Henson drained a three-pointer which triggered an 11-0 run and gave the Lady Bears a 40-37 lead. Kristen Mayo ended the run with two free throws to bring the host within a point at 40-39 at the end of the third.
Morgan State took a 53-50 lead with 29 seconds remaining after Mitchell, who missed the first free throw attempt, converted on the second. A technical foul on Morgan State, gave Wheeler the opportunity to hit both free throws and give the ball back to the Herd trailing 53-52.
Trailing by a point, Marshall would miss on its last two attempts, both three-pointers and Redd and Henson each knocked down a pair for free throws to seal the deal for the guests.
Morgan State shot 34 percent (20-of-59) from the floor and was 5-of-24 (20.8 percent) from beyond the arc. The Herd shot 32 percent (15-of-47) from the floor and connected on 8-of-19 (42 percent) from three-point range.
The Lady Bears forced Marshall into 19 turnovers, 12 of which were steals. Morgan State would score 18 points off of those turnovers.
Morgan State will be off until Tuesday, Nov. 26 when they travel to Jersey City, N.J. to face Saint Peter's at 5 p.m.
