BALTIMORE, Md. (Dec. 18, 2019)-The Morgan State women's basketball team played at home on Wednesday afternoon for the first time in 37 days and just the third time this season, when it welcomed Texas State to Hill Field House.
 
Behind the play of seniors Chelsea Mitchell and Jihayah Chavis, who each scored a game-high 16 points, the Lady Bears ended a season-long four-game losing skid, following a 72-62 non-conference victory over the Bobcats. It was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
 
With the win, Morgan State closed out its 2019 home schedule with a perfect 3-0 mark.
Mitchell, who had a game-high five steals, fell shy of a double-double, as she hauled in a game-high nine rebounds to help the Lady Bears hold a 36-25 rebounding advantage.
 
Chavis finished the game shooting 6-of-9 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from three-point range and dished out a team-best six assists.
 
Morgan State (4-7) had a total of five players score double figures. Sophomore Ashia McCalla scored 14 points, while knocking down 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Freshman Ja'Niah Henson came off the bench to score 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from three-point range and Dahnye Redd, who was making her first appearance after suffering an injury two games ago, came off the bench to add 10 points.
 
Morgan State trailed 18-9 after a trey by Texas State's Da'Nasia Hood with 7:54 left in the second quarter. The Lady Bears responded with a 13-4 spurt, which included four three-pointers by the hosts during the run. McCalla knocked down a three-pointer and Chavis added one from the right corner to even the score at 22 all.
 
The Lady Bears took their first lead of the contest (27-26) when Mitchell hit the second attempt of an intentional foul called on the Bobcats with 1:14 remaining. Henson closed out the second quarter with a jumper to give the hosts a 31-26 break at the intermission, as Morgan State held the Bobcats scoreless for the final 1:52 of the period, while going on a 7-0 run.
 
Morgan State scored the first six points to start the fourth quarter and had its largest lead of the afternoon at 15 points (59-44) with 7:50 remaining in the contest.  The Bobcats attempted to get back in the game by using a 16-5 run to pull within 64-60 on a layup by Kennedy Taylor with 2:43 left in the game. That would be as close as Texas State would get, as the Lady Bears scored eight of the final 10 points for the victory.
 
Texas State (6-3), which had its four-game winning streak snapped, was led by Brooke Holle and Hood, who both scored 15 points. Bailey Holle came off the bench and scored 11 points.
 
The Lady Bears will head to Puerto Rico to face Stony Brook (12/20) and Akron (12/21) in the Puerto Rico Clasico. It will mark the fourth consecutive season Morgan State has participated in the tournament and the third trip to Puerto Rico. The 2017 tournament was moved to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. due to the damage of Hurricane Maria.