Game 22
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (10-11, 6-2 MEAC) at Howard "Bison" (12-8, 4-3 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020
Site: Washington, D.C. (Burr Gymnasium)
Tip-off: 2 p.m.
Series Record: Howard leads, 52-20
Gameday: Here
TV: N/A
Radio: WEAA 88.9FM
Audio: HSRN.com
Watch: Here
Live Stats: www.hubison.com
Website: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.hubison.com
Game Notes: Morgan State | Howard | MEAC
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 31, 2020)- The Morgan State women's basketball team begins the second half of the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) schedule on Saturday, Feb. 1, when it travels to the Nation's Capital to take on the Bison of Howard. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. at Burr Gymnasium in Washington, D.C. The game will be broadcast live on both WEAA 889.FM and online on the Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN). Fans can also watch the action on www.hubison.com.
 
BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears (10-11, 6-2 MEAC), winners of a season-long four straight, are coming off a 55-44 victory at Maryland Eastern Shore (1/27). The win was Morgan State's fourth road victory of the season and second straight. 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. Ashia McCalla added 14 points and Dahnye Redd fell shy of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Jihayah Chavis had a game-high four steals to give her 204 for her career, which moved her into sixth-place on the Morgan State charts. Mitchell has led the Lady Bears this season in both scoring (13.9) and rebounding (9.0). Mitchell is also leads the team in steals (79). Redd is averaging 12.8 points and 7.5 rebounds to rank second in both categories, while Ashia McCalla is adding 12.1 points per contest.
 
MORGAN VS. HOWARD SERIES NOTES: Howard leads the all-time series, 52-20 and has won seven of the last 12 meetings in the Battle of the Beltways. Morgan State ended a three-game losing skid to the Bison, following its 74-67 victory earlier this season in Baltimore (1/18).
 
BISON HOOVES: Howard (12-8, 4-3 MEAC) is riding a two-game winning streak, following a 66-54 victory at Coppin State (1/27). Jayla Thornton scored a game-high 25 points and Brooklyn Fort-Davis came off the bench to score 11 points. Ayonna Williams came up short of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds and finished with a game-high five steals. Krislyn Marsh added nine rebounds. The Bison have been led by Williams, who is averaging 14.8 points and has a team-best 33 steals. Thornton is scoring 13.4 points and Sarah Edmond is contributing 13.1 points to go with a team-high 64 assists and 30 steals. Marsh is pulling down a team-high 7.2 rebounds to go with 9.5 points per game.
 
NEXT UP: Morgan State returns home to welcome Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. at Hill Field House.
 
ODD QUARTER DOMINANCE: Morgan State has outscored its opponents in the first quarter by 19 points (304-285) and by a whopping 54 points (356-302) in the third quarter. Howard too has outscored its foes in the first (332-300) and third (379-343) quarters, respectively.
 
SEE YOU REAL SOON: Morgan State, which is coming off a win at Maryland Eastern Shore (1/27), will play just one game (at Howard), before facing MDES a second time in just 12 days when the Hawks visit Morgan State (2/8). Saturday's contest at Howard will be second and final meeting between the two teams in a 14-day span. Morgan State won the first meeting in Baltimore (1/18).

MITCHELL EARNS FIFTH MEAC WEEKLY HONOR: Senior guard Chelsea Mitchell earned her fifth MEAC weekly honor this season, when she was named MEAC Co-Player of the Week along with Amaya Scott of Bethune-Cookman on Jan. 28. Mitchell averaged a double-double of 17.5 points and 12 rebounds in two games, while shooting 13-of-26 (50 percent) from the floor and 90 percent (9-for-10) from the free throw line. She began the week recording 15 points, 10 rebounds and five steals in a win at rival Coppin State and followed that up with a 20-point, 14-rebound effort at Maryland Eastern Shore.
 
IT'S HARD OUT THERE ON THE ROAD: The Lady Bears overcame a 15-point deficit, including being down 13-0 to start the game, to defeat Maryland Eastern Shore (1/27). Morgan State improved to 4-11 on the road this season, including 0-2 in neutral contests. Two days earlier the Lady Bears came from 12 points down late in the third quarter to defeat Coppin State (1/25).
 
IT WON'T BE US: It took Morgan State nearly three quarters before it finally woke up in its contest at winless Coppin State (1/25). In the end the Lady Bears would overcome a late 12-point deficit (30-18) to defeat their crosstown rivals 47-42 in Round 1 of the annual "East vs. West" game. With the win Morgan State avoided becoming the first win of the season for Coppin State, who fell to 0-18 overall, 0-6 MEAC.
 
NOT UP IN HERE: Morgan State remained unbeaten at Hill Field House this season after defeating North Carolina A&T (1/20). MSU 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 would not 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.
 
MAKE IT A DOUBLE: Chelsea Mitchell picked up her team– and MEAC-leading ninth double-double of the season in a victory at Maryland Eastern Shore (1/27). Mitchell scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed a  game-high 14 rebounds.
 
LOOKING FOR A FIFTH: Morgan's win at Maryland Eastern Shore (1/27) marked the first time this season that the Lady Bears have earned four consecutive victories. When the Lady Bears face Howard on Saturday they will be looking for their first five-game winning streak since 2016-17. 
 
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 third with 9.0 rebounds per game. A native of Columbia, Md., she has led the Lady Bears in rebounding 14 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               9.4
2.    Chance Graham, Coppin State                     9.2
3.    Chelsea Mitchell, Morgan State                 9.0
4.    Kaila Charles, Maryland                                8.1
5.    Nukiya Mayo, Towson                                   7.7
6.    Janee'a Summers, UMBC                             7.6
7.    Morgan Taylor, Navy                                     5.3
8.    Amanda Carney, Maryland Eastern Shore   4.4
 
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 MOVES INTO SIXTH ON STEALS CHART: Senior Jihayah Chavis totaled a game-high four steals at Maryland Eastern Shore (1/27) to give her 204 steals for her career to pass Whitney Johnson (201 from 2003-07) for sixth.
 
MITCHELL EYEING NINTH ON STEALS CHART: Chelsea Mitchell tallied one steal in the win at Maryland Eastern Shore (1/27) to give her 158 steals for her career. Mitchell, who recorded a career-high seven steals in the Lady Bears' upset of N.C. A&T (1/20), is now nine steals shy of passing Moneshia Davis (166 steals from 2009-13) for ninth all-time at Morgan State.
 
MITCHELL RANKS FOURTH NATIONALLY IN STEALS: Chelsea Mitchell ranks sixth in the nation in total steals (79) and is sixth in steals per game (3.76). She leads the Lady Bears in steals this season and recorded one more theft at Maryland Eastern Shore (1/27) to give her 158 for her career.
 
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.
 
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.
  
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.