Game 16
Morgan State "Lady Bears" 5-10, 1-1 MEAC) at Florida A&M "Lady Rattlers" (2-1, 0-2 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020
Site: Tallahassee, Fla. (Al Lawson Center)
Tip-off: 2 p.m.
Series Record: Florida A&M leads, 35-16
Gameday: Here
TV: N/A
Audio: N/A
Watch: N/A
Live Stats: hbculivestats.com/famu/wbball
Website: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.famuathletics.com
Game Notes: Morgan State | FAMU | MEAC
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 8, 2020)-Morgan State will head down south this weekend for two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) contests in the Sunshine State. The Lady Bears will first travel to Tallahassee, Fla. to face the Florida A&M on Saturday, Jan. 11, before making a visit to Daytona Beach, Fla. to take on defending MEAC Tournament champion, Bethune-Cookman on Monday, Jan. 13.
 
BEAR CLAWS: Morgan State (5-10, 1-1 MEAC) ended its three-game losing skid with a 77-47 victory over visiting South Carolina State (1/4). Chelsea Mitchell finished with a game-high 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting and pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds - 13 of which were on the offensive end - to record her sixth double-double of the season to lead the Lady Bears to their fourth straight win over S.C. State. Dahnye Redd scored 11 of her 19 points in the second half and Ja'Niah Henson came off the bench to score 11 points. Morgan State outscored the Lady Bulldogs, 42-24 in the paint and turned 27 S.C. State turnovers into 34 points. Morgan State has been paced this season by Mitchell, who is averaging a team-best 14.8 points and a team-leading 9.1 rebounds per game. Redd is scoring 13.6 points and grabbing 7.0 rebounds per outing, while Ashia McCalla is adding 12.5 points per game. Morgan State is scoring 63.9 points per game as a team and allowing 61.5 points per game to its opponents.
 
MSU VS. FLORIDA A&M SERIES NOTES: Florida A&M leads the all-time series, 35-16. Morgan State has won three straight over the Lady Rattlers, including last season's lone meeting, 75-71 in overtime in Baltimore (1/28/19).
 
SNAKE VENOM: Florida A&M (2-11, 0-2 MEAC) is in the midst of an eight-game losing skid, following a 71-44 loss at North Carolina A&T (1/6). It marked the fourth time this season FAMU was held to 45 points or less. Alaina Rice finished with a team-high 13 points and Shalaunda Burney-Robinson added 12 points in the loss. Mikyah Mack came off the bench to pull down a team-best eight rebounds. The Lady Rattlers shot a combined .277 (13-of-47) for the game and were 0-for-15 from three-point range. FAMU committed 31 turnovers and had just five assists. Rice leads the team in scoring with 10.6 points per outing, as well as team bests in assists (31) and steals (25). Burney-Robinson leads the team with 7.1 rebounds per outing and is contributing 9.4 points a game. Jasmine Ballew is added 9.2 points per game. The Rattlers average 61.3 points per game and are allowing opponents to score 71.1 points. FAMU is 1-2 at home this season.
 
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).
 
I'M COMING HOME: Senior guard Sydney Searcy will return to her home state of Florida this weekend when the Lady Bears visit Florida A&M (1/11) and Bethune-Cookman (1/13). A native of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Searcy spent her first two seasons at the University of Florida, before transferring to Morgan State and sitting out the 2018-19 campaign. She has started in 10 games this season, making one start and is averaging 2.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game to go with 14 steals and eight assists.
 
MAKE IT A DOUBLE: Chelsea Mitchell picked up her team– and MEAC-leading sixth double-double of the season in a victory over South Carolina State (1/6). Mitchell finished with a game-high 21 points and had a game-best 16 rebounds.
 
MITCHELL RANKS FIFTH NATIONALLY IN STEALS: Chelsea Mitchell ranks fifth in the nation in steals with 3.6 per game. The senior guard leads the Lady Bears with 54 steals this season and picked up two more thefts in the win over South Carolina State (1/6) to give her 133 for her career, which ranks 14th 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 9.1 rebounds per game. Mitchell trails only Loyola-Maryland's Stephanie Karcz, who is averaging 9.2 rebounds per contest. A native of Columbia, Md., Mitchell has led the Lady Bears in rebounding 11 times, including a season-best 16 rebounds against South Carolina State (1/6). Mitchell, who also leads the team in scoring (14.8), ranks third in the State, behind Te'yJah Oliver of UMBC (20.7) and Kionna Jeter of Towson (18.4).
 
Rk. Name, School                                    Rebounds
1. Stephanie Karcz, Loyola-Maryland                  9.2
2. Chelsea Mitchell, Morgan State                    9.1
3. Chance Graham, Coppin State                        7.8
4. Kaila Charles, Maryland                                   7.3
5. Janee'a Summers, UMBC                                7.3
6. Kionna Jeter, Towson                                       6.7
7. Sophie Gatzounas/Morgan Taylor, Navy          5.3
8. Amanda Carney, Maryland Eastern Shore       4.8
 
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 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.