BALTIMORE, Md. (Nov. 25, 2020)-The last time the Morgan State women's basketball team took the floor, the Lady Bears had earned a one-point win over Delaware State in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament (MEAC) on March 12, 2020. It would be the final game of the 2019-20 season, as the remainder of the MEAC Tournament would get canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
258 days later and the World still dealing with COVID-19, Morgan State stepped back on the floor, this time for its 2020-21 home- and season-opener against crosstown foe, the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC).
 
Sophomore guard Ja'Niah Henson, who was making her fourth career start, totaled a career-high 19 points, while shooting 3-for-5 from three-point range to lead host Morgan State to a 67-58 non-conference win on Wednesday afternoon at Hill Field House. No spectators were allowed due to  COVID-19.
 
Senior forward Dahnye Redd posted a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds and junior guard Ashia McCalla added 10 points. Junior transfer Khaliah Hines came off the bench and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor to score eight points and tied Henson for game high honors with three steals.
 
Morgan State (1-0) picked up just its second season-opening win in the last eight seasons to improve to 12-32 all-time dating back to 1977. The victory also ended a two-game losing skid to the visiting Retrievers, who had won eight of the last 10 meetings against Morgan State heading into Wednesday's contest.
 
UMBC (0-1) was led by Janee'a Summers, who finished with 17 points and had seven rebounds. Juliet Esadah had a team-high 12 rebounds and scored 16 points.
 
The Lady Bears built a nine-point advantage (32-23) on a layup by Nina Carpenter with 2:54 left in the second period. But the guests closed out the half on a 7-0 spurt to pull within 32-30 at the half.
 
Leading 45-42 after three quarters of play, Morgan State began the fourth quarter with an 11-4 spurt to take its largest lead of the game at 56-46 with 6:02 left to play in the game.
 
The Retrievers' Patricia Anumgba went on a mini 5-0 run of her own in the span of a minute and eight seconds to cut the deficit in half at 56-51 with 4:45 remaining in the contest. But that would be as close as the guests would get.    
 
Morgan State scored 32 points in the paint and turned 14 UMBC turnovers into 20 points. Both teams recorded 35 rebounds apiece for the game.
 
After receiving a major facelift to its original schedule this week, the Lady Bears, who will now play just three non-conference games this year, will be off until Saturday, Dec. 5, when they welcome Saint Peter's. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. at Hill Field House.



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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified doctoral research institution offering more than 126 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu