PRINCESS ANNE, Md. (Jan. 27, 2020)-Chelsea Mitchell picked up her ninth double-double of the season, finishing with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds to lead the Lady Bears to a 55-44 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) road victory over Maryland Eastern Shore (MDES) at the Hytche Athletic Center.

The victory marked the second straight over the Hawks and the seventh in the last nine meetings, as Morgan State (10-11, 6-2 MEAC) improved to 39-42 all-time against MDES. The two programs will meet again on Feb. 8 in Baltimore.

Ashia McCalla added 14 points and Dahnye Redd fell shy of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds, as the Lady Bears extended their season-long winning streak to four. It's the most consecutive victories since the 2017-18 campaign when Morgan State reached four straight wins twice.

Jihayah Chavis had a game-high four steals to give her 204 for her career, which moved her past former Lady Bear Whitney Johnson (201 from 2003-07) for sixth-place on the Morgan State career charts.

For the second consecutive game Morgan State would be held under 10 points in the first quarter and needed to overcome a slow start in order to win.  

Maryland Eastern Shore (4-15, 1-5 MEAC) got on the board with a three-pointer by Adrienne Jones at the 7:21 mark, which triggered a 13-0 spurt by the Hawks to start the game. Jamaya Blanks hit a jumper with 2:49 left in the opening period to put the hosts up 13.

Mitchell scored on a layup to record the Lady Bears' first points of the game with 1:46 left in the first. 36 seconds later Brooklyn Bailey knocked down a three-pointer to complete a mini 5-0 run to give the Hawks their largest lead of the evening of 15 points (18-3) with 1:10 to go. The score would hold up for the remainder of the period, making the five points in the opening quarter the lowest total for Morgan State this season. The previous low of seven first quarter points came on two days earlier in the win at Coppin State.

The Lady Bears, who had cut the deficit down to six points (27-21) at the intermission, outscored the hosts, 13-6 in the third quarter to take a 34-33 advantage after three periods of play. Morgan State began the period using a 9-0 run. McCalla nailed a three-pointer from the left wing to give the Lady Bears their first lead of the game (28-27) with 7:49 remaining. McCalla then hit a jumper 40 seconds later to complete the run and extend the lead to three.

Twice MDES would even the score in the fourth quarter with the last coming on a jumper by Dayona Godwin at the 7:16 mark to tie the score at 41 all. Morgan State scored the next five points, before Godwin scored on a layup and added the free throw on the play to bring the Hawks within 46-44 with 3:57 left in the game.

Those were the final points for the Hawks, as Morgan State closed out the game with a 9-0 spurt to outscore the hosts 21-11 in the period for the win.

The Lady Bears shot 10-of-14 (71.4%) from the free throw line, while MDES was just 1-for-4 (25%) for the game.

The Hawks were led by Taylor Clayborne, who scored 12 points. Godwin came off the bench to add nine points. 

Morgan State will begin the second half of the MEAC slate on Saturday, Feb. 1 when it travels to the Nation's Capital to face the Howard Bison at Burr Gymnasium. Morgan State won the season's first meeting, 74-67 in Baltimore (1/18). The Bison (12-8, 4-3 MEAC) were a 66-54 winner at Coppin State on Monday.