Game 26
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (12-13, 8-4 MEAC) at South Carolina State "Lady Bulldogs" (3-20, 2-9 MEAC)
Date: Monday, Feb. 17, 2020
Site: Orangeburg, S.C. (S-H-M Memorial Center)
Tip-off: 5:30 p.m.
Series Record: S.C. State leads, 40-39
Gameday: Here
TV: N/A
Audio: HSRN.com
Watch: N/A
Live Stats: www.scsuathletics.com
Website: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.scsuathletics.com
Game Notes: Morgan State | S.C. State |  MEAC
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Feb. 16, 2020)-The Morgan State women's basketball team will take to the road one final time during the regular season when it visits the Norfolk State Spartans on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. at Echols Hall in Norfolk, Va., followed by a trip to Orangeburg, S.C. to take on the South Carolina State Lady Bulldogs on Monday, Feb. 19 at 5:30 p.m. at the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center. Both games will be broadcast live on the Heritage Sports Radio Network at HSRN.com.
 
BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears (12-13, 8-4 MEAC), losers of two of their last three games, are coming off a 57-64 loss at Norfolk State on Saturday. The loss dropped the Lady Bears out of a tie for third-place in the league standings with North Carolina A&T, into a current tie with N.C. A&T for fourth-place, thanks to the Aggies' loss on Saturday to rival North Carolina Central. Senior Chelsea Mitchell recorded team highs in points (18) and rebounds (8), while recording a game-high five steals to move into eighth-place on the Morgan State career steals charts with 178. Fellow senior guard Jihayah Chavis and sophomore Ashia McCalla each finished with 12 points. The Lady Bears have been led by Mitchell, who is averaging 15 points per game and 9.4 rebounds per contest. Redd is scoring 12.9 points and 7.7 rebounds and McCalla is contributing 12.5 points per game.
  
MORGAN VS. S.C. STATE SERIES NOTES: South Carolina State leads the all-time series, 40-39. Morgan State has won the last four meetings, including a 77-47 victory earlier this season in Baltimore (1/6).
 
DOG TREATS: South Carolina State (3-21, 2-9 MEAC), who has lost six straight and nine of its last 10 games, is coming off a 61-42 loss at home to Coppin State on Saturday. Jacquece Alston scored a team-high 11 points and Jayah Hicks added nine for the Lady Bulldogs who fell to 1-8 at home this season. Heniaya Moten, Alston and Hicks each grabbed a team-high three rebounds. Moten has paced the Lady Bulldogs with 12.7 points, while Alston is averaging 8.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest. Alston also leads the squad with 54 steals and 67 assists. Fama Gueye leads the team with 17 blocks.

NEXT UP: Morgan State closes out the regular season with its final three games being played at Hill Field House. First up for the Lady Bears will be a rematch against the Delaware State Hornets on Monday, Feb. 24 at 5:30 p.m.
 
CHAVIS MOVES INTO FIFTH ON STEALS CHART: Senior Jihayah Chavis totaled two steals against North Carolina Central (2/10) to give her 210 steals for her career and move past Monique Liddell (208 from 1996-00) for fifth.
 
LADY BEARS SUFFER FIRST HOME LOSS: Morgan State was a dealt its first home loss of the season, when Maryland Eastern Shore defeated the Lady Bears, 71-61 on Feb. 8 at Hill Field House. The loss dropped the Lady Bears to 6-1 at home this season and ended their seven-game home court winning streak dating back to last season. Two days later Morgan State regrouped and held off North Carolina Central, 86-79 on Feb. 10 to improve to 7-1 at Hill Field House.
 
IT'S HARD OUT THERE ON THE ROAD: Morgan State nearly pulled off the upset of Norfolk State (2/15), before getting outscored 10-1 the final three minutes of the contest. With the loss, the Lady Bears fell to 5-12 on the road this season, including 0-2 in neutral contests.
 
THIRD QUARTER DOMINANCE: Morgan State has outscored its opponents in the third quarter by a whopping 66 points (420-354). In the win over Howard (2/1), the Lady Bears limited Howard to just three points in the third period.
 
MITCHELL MOVES INTO EIGHTH ON STEALS CHART: Chelsea Mitchell tallied a game-high five steals in the loss at Norfolk State (2/15) to give her 178 steals for her career and mover her past Lisa Mickens (174 steals from 1997-01) for eighth all-time at Morgan State.
 
MITCHELL RANKS THIRD NATIONALLY IN STEALS: Chelsea Mitchell ranks third in the nation in total steals (99) and is third in steals per game (3.96). She leads the Lady Bears in steals this season and has 178 for her career.
 
DAVIS RECORDS CAREER VICTORY NO. 390: MSU head coach Ed Davis Jr. picked up his 390th career coaching victory, following the Lady Bears' win over North Carolina Central (2/10). Davis, who is in his eighth season with the Lady Bears and fourth as head coach, has an overall record of 390-314. He recorded career win No. 380, following the Lady Bears' win over Washington Adventist (11/11). Davis has guided his teams to a total of four NCAA Tournament appearances, while at Bowie State (3) and Delaware State (1) and two Division II Sweet 16 appearances.
 
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.
 
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.