Game 31 (MEAC Tournament – First Round)
Opponent: vs. Coppin State (4-24, 4-12 MEAC)
Date: Monday, March 11, 2019
Site: Norfolk, Va. | Norfolk Scope Arena
Tip-Off: 3:30 p.m.
Series Record: Coppin State leads the series, 41-38
TV: None
Live Video: here | Live Stats: here
Radio: WEAA 88.9 FM/HSRN.com
Game Day: here 
MSU Notes | MSU Tournament Guide 
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (March 10, 2019)-For third time in the last five seasons and the second consecutive year, the Morgan State Lady Bears will face their crosstown rivals Coppin State in first round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va. The Lady Bears will be the #6 seed, while Coppin State will be the #11 seed for the second straight year. The contest will stream live on flohoops.com.
 
BEAR CLAWS: Morgan State (10-20, 8-8 MEAC) closed out the regular season winning its final two games, including a 70-47 victory over visiting Coppin State in the finale (3/7). The Lady Bears were led by Adre'onia Coleman and Ashia McCalla, who each scored 15 points, while Naomi Bolasingh shot 4-for-6 from three-point range to finish with 14 points, while Dezyree Morales shot a season-best 5-for-7 for a season-high 10 points. Jihayah Chavis also had 10 points in the win. Coleman, a first-team All-MEAC selection, has paced the Lady Bears this season, averaging 16.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. McCalla, who was named to the All-MEAC Rookie team, is adding 9.9 points and 4.5 boards a game, while Chavis is contributing 9.2 points and leads the team in both assists (77) and steals (64).
 
BIRD SEEDS: Coppin State (4-24, 4-12 MEAC), which has struggled this season, had its season-long two-game winning streak snapped, following a 70-47 loss at Morgan State (3/7). Jalynda Salley led the way with 14 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, while Brooke Fields had 13 points and Kaiya Coleman added 11 points. The Eagles have been led by Fields, who is averaging 17.1 points a game and has a team-leading 107 assists. 2019 MEAC Defensive Player of the Year, Chance Graham, is averaging a double-double with 15.1 points and 11.6 rebounds per game and has a team highs in blocks (34) and steals (47) on the season.
 
MSU VS. CSU SERIES NOTES: Coppin State leads the all-time series, 41-38. Morgan State has won four straight over the Eagles, including a 70-47 victory during last Thursday's regular season finale. Morgan State would sweep the season series.
 
NEXT UP: Should Morgan State win, it will advance to the MEAC Quarterfinal round for the second consecutive season and would take on third-seeded Bethune-Cookman on Thursday, March 14 at noon.
 
LET'S DO THIS AGAIN SOON: Monday's MEAC first round contest between Morgan State and Coppin State will be the second meeting between the two in four days. The Baltimore rivals last played on Thursday, March 7 in the regular season finale for both teams, which host Morgan State won, 70-47.

THEY GOT IT RIGHT: The Morgan State Lady Bears we're picked to finish in sixth-place in the MEAC standings by the league's head coaches and sports information directors and that's exactly what they did. Morgan State also finished in sixth last season.
 
COLEMAN NAMED TO ALL-MEAC FIRST TEAM: Senior forward Adre'onia Coleman was named to the All-MEAC first team. Coleman led the team in both scoring (16.5) and rebounding (7.9), finished second in both steals (49) and blocks (17), while adding 33 assists. She reached double figures in scoring 27 times and led the Lady Bears in scoring in 25 games. A native of Baltimore, Coleman scored a career-high 26 points against UMBC (12/20). She was a three-time MEAC Player of the Week selection and twice she earned the College Sports Madness MEAC Player of the Week award.
 
MCCALLA NAMED TO ALL-MEAC ROOKIE TEAM: Freshman Ashia McCalla was named to the All-MEAC Rookie team. She finished the regular season as the team's second leading scorer with 9.9 points per game and was second in rebounding with 4.5 boards per game to go along with 38 steals and 24 assists. She led the Lady Bears in three-pointers made (34), three-point percentage (.347) and free throw percentage (.747), connecting on 68-of-91 from the charity line. McCalla reached double figures in scoring 15 times and scored a season-best 18 points three times against Maryland Eastern Shore (1/5), Florida A&M (1/28) and at Delaware State (3/2). She was a MEAC Rookie of the Week recipient (1/29).
 
YOU AGAIN...SOUNDS FAMILIAR: If Morgan State vs. Coppin State at the Norfolk Scope Arena sounds familiar, it is. Once again the Battle of Baltimore's 'East vs. West' game will have a Round 3, when the Lady Bears and Eagles meet in the first round on Monday afternoon. In fact, this will be the fourth time in the last five seasons that the two programs will meet in the MEAC Tournament, including the third time in the first round. For added measure, this will mark the second consecutive season that Morgan State will enter the contest as the 6th-seed and Coppin State the 11th-seed. And if you just can't get enough of Morgan-Coppin, the men will get into the mix on Tuesday night in their first round contest.
 
MORALES SAVES BEST FOR LAST: Junior Dezyree Morales put together her best offensive outing in the season finale against Coppin State (3/7). Morales scored a season-high 10 points on a season-best 5-of-7 shooting from the floor, while also adding four rebounds, two blocks and two steals in the win.
 
NO BETTER TIME THAN MARCH: It took all 30 regular season games, but the Lady Bears' back-to-back victories at Maryland Eastern Shore (3/4) and at home against Coppin State (3/7), gave Morgan State a 2-1 record for the month of March, it's first winning record month all season.
 
APPLYING THE PRESSURE ON COPPIN: Morgan State has forced a combined 86 turnovers out of Coppin State during its four-game winning streak over the Eagles. The Lady Bears have also recorded 43 steals during the last four contests against Coppin State. Morgan State forced Coppin State into 25 turnovers (the most during the streak) and had 13 steals.