Game 20
Morgan State "Lady Bears" 8-11, 4-2 MEAC) at Coppin State "Eagles" (0-17, 0-5 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020
Site: Baltimore, Md. (Physical Education Complex Arena)
Tip-off: 2 p.m.
Series Record: Coppin State leads, 42-38
Gameday: Here
TV: N/A
Radio: WEAA 88.9 FM
Audio: Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN.com)
Live Stream: Here
Live Stats: Here
Website: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.coppinstatesports.com
Game Notes: Morgan State | Coppin State | MEAC
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 24, 2020)-Morgan State makes the short trip across town to battle Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) foe and rival Coppin State in this season's first installment of the annual "East vs. West" game on Saturday, Jan. 25. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. at the Physical Education Complex Arena on the campus of Coppin State. The contest will be streamed live on coppinstatesports.com and can be heard on both WEAA 88.9 FM and at HSRN.com.
 
BEAR CLAWS: Morgan State (8-11, 4-2 MEAC) enters its contest against Coppin State on a two-game winning streak, following a thrilling, 42-38 victory at home over defending MEAC regular season champion North Carolina A&T State (1/20). The win ended an eight-game losing skid to the Lady Aggies, as well as put an end to a 28-game MEAC regular season winning streak by the Lady Aggies. Chelsea Mitchell scored a team-high 10 points, grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and recorded a game-high seven steals in the win. Dahnye Redd finished with nine points and Ashia McCalla added eight points. The Lady Bears have been paced by Mitchell, who is averaging 13.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game and also leads the team in steals with 73. Redd is second in both scoring (13.3) and rebounding (7.1), while McCalla is contributing 11.8 points per game.
 
MORGAN VS. COPPIN SERIES NOTES: Coppin State leads the all-time series, 42-38. Morgan State swept the regular season series last year defeating the Eagles, 74-57 (2/2) and then 70-47 in the season finale at Hill Field House (3/7) to earn its fourth straight win over Coppin State. Four days later the Eagles, would defeat Morgan State 50-48 in the first round of the MEAC Tournament in Norfolk, Va. (3/11).
 
BIRD SEEDS: Coppin State (0-17, 0-5 MEAC), which is still searching for its first win of the season, is coming off an 84-38 loss at home to North Carolina A&T (1/18). Tyree Allen scored a team-high 13 points and Chance Graham pulled down eight rebounds to move into 10th on the MEAC's all-time rebounding charts. Jalynda Salley recorded a game-high four blocks. Graham leads the Eagles in scoring (9.5) and rebounding (8.6) per game. Aliyah Lawson is adding 9.3 points, while Salley is averaging 6.2 rebounds and leads Coppin State with 24 blocks.
 
NEXT UP: The Lady Bears will make the brief trip crosstown to face rival Coppin State in the season's first edition of the annual East vs. West match-up on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 2 p.m. at the Physical Education Complex on the Coppin State campus.
 
NOT UP IN HERE: Morgan State remained unbeaten at Hill Field House this season after defeating North Carolina A&T (1/20). The Lady Bears improved to 6-0 with the win and have won seven straight home contests dating back to last year's regular season finale victory over Coppin State (3/7/19).
 
STREAK ENDERS: When the Lady Bears defeated North Carolina A&T, 42-38 at Hill Field House (1/20), the win put an end to the Lady Aggies' 28-game regular season winning streak over MEAC opposition. It wouldn't be the first time that the women's basketball program was responsible for ending a lengthy MEAC winning streak. During the 2007 MEAC Tournament (3/9), Morgan State came-from-behind to defeat defending champion Coppin State, 69-67 in overtime in the semifinal round. The win ended a 14-game losing slide to Coppin State, as well as put to rest a 49-game winning streak against MEAC opponents by the Eagles.
 
IT'S HARD OUT THERE ON THE ROAD: The Lady Bears earned a split on the road during their last road trip to Florida (Jan. 11-13) to improve to 2-11 on the road this season, including 0-2 in neutral contests. Morgan State began with a 59-47 victory at Florida A&M (1/11) to end a seven-game losing streak away from Hill Field House. The Lady Bears then dropped a 74-65 decision at Bethune-Cookman (1/13).
 
LOOKING FOR A THIRD: When the Lady Bears face Coppin State on Saturday they will be looking for their first three-game winning streak of the season. The Lady Bears' win over North Carolina A&T (1/20) marked the third time this season that Morgan State has earned back-to-back victories.
 
TURNING UP THE DEFENSE: North Carolina A&T entered its contest with Morgan State (1/20) averaging a league-best 70.1 points per game and was limited to a season-low 38 points. It was the second lowest point total by an opponent this season. Morgan State held Notre Dame Maryland to 34 points on Nov. 8, 2019. The Lady Bears also forced 30 turnovers out of the Lady Aggies, which ranks second most this season behind the 35 turnovers Morgan State forced against both Notre Dame Maryland and Washington Adventist.
 
CHAVIS SETS CAREER HIGH: Senior guard Jihayah Chavis scored a career-high 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting in the win over Howard (1/18). Chavis also tied a game-high five assists and added four rebounds and two steals.
 
MITCHELL RANKS FOURTH NATIONALLY IN STEALS: Chelsea Mitchell ranks fourth in the nation in total steals (73) and is fifth in steals per game with 3.84. The senior guard leads the Lady Bears in steals this season and picked up seven more thefts against N.C. A&T (1/20) to give her 152 for her career, which moved her into 10th on the Morgan State charts.
 
MARYLAND'S FINEST: Of all the leading rebounders of the eight Division I women's basketball programs in the State of Maryland, Morgan State's Chelsea Mitchell ranks second with 8.7 rebounds per game. A native of Columbia, Md., Mitchell has led the Lady Bears in rebounding 13 times, including a season-best 16 rebounds against South Carolina State (1/6). She was held without a rebound in the loss at Bethune-Cookman (1/13), which marked the first time this season she failed to grab a rebound.
 
Rk. Name, School                                    Rebounds
1. Stephanie Karcz, Loyola-Maryland                  9.6
2. Chelsea Mitchell, Morgan State                    8.7
3. Chance Graham, Coppin State                        8.6
4. Kaila Charles, Maryland                                   8.1
5. Nukiya Mayo, Towson                                      7.7
6. Janee'a Summers, UMBC                                7.6
7. Morgan Taylor, Navy                                        5.1
8. Amanda Carney, Maryland Eastern Shore      4.4
 
MAKE IT A DOUBLE: Chelsea Mitchell picked up her team– and MEAC-leading seventh double-double of the season in a victory at Florida A&M (1/11). Mitchell finished with a game-high 11 points and had a game-best 13 rebounds.
   
MORGAN STATE TO HONOR ELIJAH CUMMINGS: Throughout the 2019-20 season, Morgan State student-athletes will celebrate the life of longtime Baltimore Congressman Elijah Cummings, who passed away on October 17, 2019, at the age of 68. In honor of Congressman Cummings and all of his many positive contributions to the University and his district, all Morgan State athletic teams will wear a special commemorative "EC" patch on their jerseys throughout the season. The Bears' football team helmets were also adorned with an EC decal. The patch is a black circle with the initials "EC" in the center in orange letters and outlined in white. Congressman Cummings has a long history with Morgan State University and over the years has been one of its most staunch supporters. In addition to hosting many of his youth workshops and annual career fairs at Morgan, he also served on the University's Board of Regents for 19 years after having been appointed in July 1999 (he missed one year due to other commitments at the time.
 
MORGAN STATE 'GRIT': The Morgan State athletic department has adopted the slogan GRIT for the 2019-20 athletic campaign. GRIT, which stands for Growth, Resiliency, Integrity and Teamwork, was introduced by Morgan State Director of Athletics Dr. Edward Scott at the start of the Fall semester. GRIT will define all 15 of Morgan State's athletic teams on and off the field of play this season.
 
SKRIPKINA HAS BREAKOUT: Lana Skripkina scored a season- and team-high 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 3-for-5 from three-point range in the win at Florida A&M (1/11). She also tied a season-high three rebounds. A native of Russia, Skripkina's previous high was eight points at Nebraska (11/14).
 
MITCHELL PICKS UP ANOTHER MEAC HONOR: Chelsea Mitchell was named MEAC Co-Player of the Week on Tuesday, Jan. 7 to earn her fourth MEAC weekly honor this season. She previously was named MEAC Defensive (11/26), Co-Defensive (11/12) and MEAC Co-Player of the Week (12/17) honors. The Columbia, Md. native averaged a double-double for the week, recording 23 points and 15.5 rebounds per game in two contests, while shooting a combined 19-for-36 (.528) from the floor. Mitchell began the week scoring a game-high 25 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds, while adding three steals and a block at Delaware State (1/4). She then recorded a 21-point, 16-rebound performance against South Carolina State (1/6).
 
THE MAIN EVENT: The Lady Bears were the main event in their MEAC opener doubleheader at Delaware State (1/4). The contest followed the men's game and marked the first time in nearly three decades that the women's team followed the men's game in a MEAC doubleheader.
 
MORGAN PICKED SEVENTH IN MEAC: Morgan State was picked to finish seventh in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) preseason poll, as voted by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. Last year, the Lady Bears were picked to finish sixth, and went 10-21 overall and finished 8-8 in the MEAC to finish sixth.
 
UNBEATEN STREAKS ON THE LINE: The Lady Bears entered the 2019-20 campaign looking to remain unbeaten against three teams on the schedule: Notre Dame-Maryland, Washington Adventist and Hofstra. The Lady Bears were successful in extending their winning streaks against both Notre Dame-Maryland (4-0) and Washington Adventist (5-0), but suffered its first loss to Hofstra (2-1).
 
TOURNAMENT EXPOSURE: Six of Morgan State's 2019-20 opponents advanced to postseason play last season in Marquette-2nd round, Michigan-2nd round and Bethune-Cookman-1st round (NCAA Women's Tournament); North Carolina A&T State-1st round (Women's National Invitational Tournament); Akron-1st round and Marshall-2nd round (Women's Basketball Invitational).
 
SAYING GOODBYE: Morgan State will say goodbye to five seniors at the conclusion of the season. Four-year member Jihayah Chavis, three-year member Chelsea Mitchell along with Dawn Gipson, Sydney Searcy and Dezyree Morales, who all came to Morgan State a year ago as juniors, will be honored on 'Senior Night' prior to their final home game at Hill Field House against Norfolk State (3/5/20).
 
2020 MEAC TOURNAMENT: The 2020 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) men's and women's basketball tournament is scheduled for March 9-14 at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va. Ticket books can be purchased at all 12 MEAC university ticket offices, the Norfolk Scope Arena, Ticketmaster outlets, the MEAC Administrative Office and online at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets are also available by calling the MEAC at 757-951-2055 or Ticketmaster at (800)-745-3000. The annual MEAC Basketball Tournament moved to Norfolk in 2013 after spending the previous four years in Winston-Salem, N.C. from 2009 through 2012.