ORANGEBURG, S.C. (Feb. 9, 2019)-For the first time this season, the Lady Bears have put together a season-long three-game winning streak, following a 63-61 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) victory over South Carolina State on Saturday at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.
 
Morgan State (8-16, 6-4 MEAC), winners of four of its last five games, also recorded its third consecutive win on the road after dropping its first 11 away from Hill Field House.
 
Senior guard Kayla Horn scored a team-high 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and senior forward Adre'onia Coleman also finished with 13 points and grabbed a team-high four rebounds, as the Lady Bears swept the season series from the Lady Bulldogs.
 
The Lady Bears would shoot 47.8 percent (22-of-46) from the floor and connected on 17-of-23 (73.9 percent) from the charity line. Ashia McCalla came off the bench to add to Morgan State's well rounded scoring with 12 points. Jihayah Chavis and Naomi Bolasingh each scored nine points and Dezyree Morales finished with six.
 
South Carolina State (11-12, 4-5 MEAC) was led by Rhein Beamon, who shot 4-of-7 from three-point range to finish with a game-high 14 points. Ester Udonsi came off the bench and also knocked down four three-pointers to finish with 12 points. Taylor Brown scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Jaquanna Murray had a game-high nine rebounds to help the hosts hold a 38-22 rebounding advantage over Morgan State.
 
The Lady Bulldogs would finish the game connecting on 11-of-18 (61.1 percent) from beyond the three-point arc.
 
Morgan State trailed by one at the intermission (25-24) and was even with South Carolina State, 40-40 after three quarters of play. Udonsi hit a three-pointer to open up the fourth quarter. Morgan State scored the next six points to take a 46-43 advantage, following a layup by Horn with 7:18 to play. Horn would drain a three-pointer nearly three minutes to extend the Lady Bears' lead to 54-48, their largest of the day.
 
South Carolina State would not go away, as Udonsi and Beamon each knocked down treys, respectively, to even the score at 54 all. Bolasingh countered with a three-pointer of her own to give the guests the lead back at 57-54 with 1:30 remaining.
 
It would get interesting when Brown knocked down a three from the right corner and was fouled, cutting the Lady Bears' lead to 63-61 with nine seconds left. Brown would miss the free throw, but S.C. State would get the rebound and Kyesha Lewis' jumper would hit the side of the backboard and be touched out of bounds by Morgan State, giving the ball back to the Lady Bulldogs. S.C. State would throw the ball away on the inbound pass, allowing Morgan State to secure the victory.
 
Morgan State, which recorded eight steals and forced 22 S.C. State turnovers, converting those into 22 points. The Lady Bears also outscored the hosts, 28-18 in the paint.
 
The Lady Bears will travel to Savannah, Ga. to face the Lady Tigers of Savannah State on Monday, Feb. 11 at 5:30 p.m. at Tiger Arena. It will be the final regular season meeting between the two teams as members of the MEAC. Savannah State will leave the conference and move back to Division II at the end of the 2018-19 academic year.
 
Savannah State (5-13, 3-6 MEAC) was a 68-57 winner over Coppin State on Saturday, thus ending a five-game losing skid.