BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 20, 2020)-The last time the Morgan State women's basketball team defeated North Carolina A&T State, President Barack Obama had just completed his third year in office the day before. The Lady Bears would defeat the Lady Aggies 85-83 in overtime in Baltimore (1/21/12).

Fast forward a day shy of eight years ago and Morgan State would again defeat N.C. A&T and do it in front of the friendly confines of home.

Morgan State senior Chelsea Mitchell scored a team-high 10 points, grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and recorded a game-high seven steals to help Morgan State to a 42-38 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) victory over visiting North Carolina A&T State on Monday evening at Hill Field House.

Morgan State (8-11, 4-2 MEAC), which ended an eight-game losing skid to the Lady Aggies (12-4, 4-1 MEAC), also handed the defending MEAC regular season champions their first MEAC loss of the season, thus ending a string of 28 straight MEAC regular season wins dating back to the 2017-18 season.  

Prior to Monday's loss, N.C. A&T's last conference defeat came at home to then MEAC member Hampton, 63-51 on Feb. 3, 2018.

"Our game plan was to open the floor and spread them out with their big girls and look to attack when we had the opportunity," said Morgan State head coach Ed Davis, Jr. "We got a little rattled, but I thought the defense in the third and fourth quarter turned them out. We forced 30 turnovers. For me it was just a great game. As a coach I'm selfish. I wish we had made free throws at the end to kind of ice it, but we take it the way we get it."

There would not be as much scoring in this year's contest as the one back in 2012 and Morgan State can credit the victory to the specialty of its head coach [Ed Davis], defense. Behind Morgan State's defense, the Lady Bears forced the MEAC's top scoring offense into 30 turnovers, converting those into 24 points. Morgan State recorded 16 steals which helped to hold N.C. A&T to a season-low 38 points and limit the Lady Aggies well under their average of 70.1 points per game entering the contest.

"Tonight was a little special because the kids played what I think was great defense," said Davis. "They held them to 38 points. For us to hold the conference champions down 30 points under their average, that's great. And it showed that we didn't die we didn't stop at the end. We had a chance to win. These types of games bring about momentum and hopefully we don't get caught in trap games again. They know what it takes to win. I'm just extremely proud of them. They played all the way through."

Morgan State took a 16-14 advantage following two free throws from KaMaree Donald with 3:20 remaining in the second quarter. A&T countered with a mini 6-0 run to take a 20-16 lead after a basket by Lessears, who was fouled on the play with 35 seconds to go. Lessears would miss the bonus and Ashia McCalla hit a baseline jumper with 14.5 seconds left in the period. The Lady Bears got a defensive stand and Demeza, who was fouled after gathering a rebound, knocked down both free throws with 3.2 left to even the score at 20 all heading in the intermission.

A&T would outscore Morgan State, 10-7 in the third period to take a 30-27 lead heading into the fourth quarter. With scoring coming at a premium, it would come down to two key plays down the stretch from a Morgan State reserve player, who would help the hosts secure the victory.

Morgan State held a slim 35-34 lead in the fourth quarter, when junior transfer Lana Skripkina drained a three-pointer to extend the Lady Bears' lead to 38-34 with 34.4 seconds remaining. Skripkina was not done and 17 seconds later she would come up with yet another big play. 

Leading 39-38, Morgan State's Ja'Niah Henson hit the first of two free throws attempts to give the hosts a 40-38 lead. Henson would miss the second attempt and Skripkina was right there to grab the rebound and laid it in for the 42-38 lead with 17 seconds remaining for the game's final score.

"I have confidence in her shooting that shot. And the fact that she didn't shoot it scared," said Davis on the three-pointer by Skripkina. "She put the ball up and the big put back, so that was a five-point turnaround for us that really sealed the game for us."

"My teammates support me a lot and trust me with the shot and I made it," said Skripkina on her three-pointer. "I was struggling before and they said to keep shooting and they believe in me."

As for the put back layup, Skripkina added, "it just happened. I saw the ball and just put it in. I usually miss that shot in practice, but today I made it." 

Dahnye Redd finished with nine points and McCalla added eight points in the win. Morgan State shot 15-of-52 (29 percent) from the floor, including 2-of-11 from three-point range. The Lady Bears were 10-of-26 (39 percent) from the free throw line.

A&T, which had its six-game winning streak snapped, was led by Jayla Jones-Pack, who came off the bench to score 11 points. Lessears scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds. Le'on Hill had a game-high five blocked shots and pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds, as the Lady Aggies outrebounded Morgan State, 57-33 for the game.

The Lady Aggies shot 28 percent (15-of-54) from the floor and was just 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from beyond the arc. A&T finished the game shooting 30.4 percent (7-of-23) from the charity stripe.

Morgan State returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 25 when it makes the short trip crosstown to face rival Coppin State in the season's first "East vs. West" game. Coppin State (0-17, 0-5 MEAC), which was off on Monday, was dealt an 84-38 loss at home to North Carolina A&T last Saturday.