Game 15
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (4-10, 0-1 MEAC) vs. South Carolina State "Lady Bulldogs" (2-11, 1-0 MEAC)
Date: Monday, Jan. 6, 2020
Site: Baltimore, Md. (Hill Field House)
Tip-off: 5:30 p.m.
Series Record: South Carolina State leads, 40-38
Gameday: Here
TV: N/A
Audio: HSRN.com
Watch: N/A
Live Stats: www.MorganStateBears.com
Website: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.scsuathletics.com
Game Notes: Morgan State | SC State | MEAC
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 6, 2020)-The Morgan State Lady Bears will play their first home game of 2020 when they welcome the Bulldogs of South Carolina State to Hill Field House on Monday, Jan. 6. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. and will be the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) home opener for Morgan State. The Lady Bears will look to put to rest a three-game losing skid, while remaining unbeaten at home.
 
BEAR CLAWS: Morgan State (4-10, 0-1 MEAC) is currently on a three-game losing skid and has lost seven of its last eight contests. The Lady Bears were dealt a 69-61 setback at Delaware State on Saturday in the MEAC opener for both teams. Morgan State fell behind by as much as 21 points (41-20) in the second quarter, but battled back to cut the deficit to five points (63-58) with under a minute remaining in the game. Chelsea Mitchell scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds in the loss. Ashia McCalla finished with 20 points on 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range and Dahnye Redd scored 10 points and had 14 rebounds. MSU has been paced by Mitchell, who is averaging a team-leading 14.4 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Redd is scoring 13.2 points and grabbing 7.1 rebounds per outing, while McCalla is adding 12.8 points per game. Morgan State is scoring 63 points per game as a team and allowing 62.6 points per game to its opponents.
 
MSU VS. S.C. STATE SERIES NOTES: South Carolina State leads the all-time series, 40-38. Morgan State has won the last three meetings, including sweeping both games last season.
 
DOG TREATS: South Carolina State (2-11, 1-0 MEAC) put to rest a 10-game losing streak with its 71-60 overtime victory at Coppin State on Saturday. It was the second victory of the season for the Lady Bulldogs, whose first win also came on the road and in overtime against Charleston Southern (11/9). Savannah State transfer Jacquece Alston shot 6-of-10 and knocked down all seven free throw attempts to finish with 21 points. Alston also tallied a game-high six steals and added six rebounds and four assists. Fellow Savannah State teammate Heniaya Moten added 19 points and De'Mean Bond finished with 11 points and six rebounds in a reserve role. S.C. State forced Coppin State into 30 turnovers, while committing 24 turnovers themselves. The Lady Bulldogs are led by Taylor Brown, who is averaging 16.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Moten is scoring 11.7 points and Alston is adding 8.7 points and 6.2 boards per outing. S.C. State is averaging 53.6 points per contest and is surrendering 75.2 points to its opponents.
 
NEXT UP: Morgan State will travel to the Sunshine State this weekend to take on the Florida A&M Rattlers on Saturday, Jan. 11 in Tallahassee, Fla., before heading to Daytona Beach, Fla. to visit defending MEAC Tournament champion, Bethune-Cookman on Monday, Jan. 13.
 
MITCHELL RANKS SEVENTH NATIONALLY IN STEALS: Chelsea Mitchell ranks seventh in the nation in steals with 3.7 per game. The senior guard leads the Lady Bears with 52 steals this season and picked up three more thefts in the loss at Delaware State (1/4) to give her 131 for her career, which ranks 14th on the Morgan State charts.
 
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 will follow the men's game in a MEAC doubleheader.
  
CHAVIS MOVES INTO SEVENTH ON STEALS CHART: Senior Jihayah Chavis had four steals at Hofstra (12/4) to move a steal past former Lady Bear Lisa Mickens (174 from 1997-01) for seventh all-time at Morgan State with 175. Chavis, who has since recorded a career-high seven more steals against Stony Brook (12/20), currently has 189 steals for her career and is now 13 steals away from passing Whitney Johnson (201 from 2003-07) for sixth.
 
MITCHELL MOVES INTO 14TH ON STEALS CHART: Chelsea Mitchell recorded two steals in the loss to Stony Brook (12/20), giving her 126 for her career to move past the late Tracey Carrington, who collected 124 steals from 2011-15, for sole possession of 14th all-time at Morgan State. Mitchell, who currently has 131 steals, is now eight away from passing Debbie Grey (138 from 1985-90) for 13th.
 
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.
 
IT'S HARD OUT THERE ON THE ROAD: Morgan State wrapped up its season-long seven-game stretch away from home with a tough 65-63 overtime loss at UMBC (12/15). The Lady Bears, who are 1-10 on the road thus far this season, including 0-2 in neutral contests, went 1-6 during the seven-game road swing.
 
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.