Game 28
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (14-13, 10-4 MEAC) vs. Coppin State "Eagles" (3-23, 3-11 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020
Site: Baltimore, Md. (Hill Field House)
Tip-off: 2 p.m.
Series Record: Coppin State leads, 42-39
Gameday: Here
TV: N/A
Audio: HSRN.com
Watch: Here
Live Stats: Here
Website: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.coppinstatesports.com
Game Notes: Morgan State | Coppin State | MEAC
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Feb. 28, 2020)-Referred to by names such as "East vs. West"; "Battle of Baltimore" or simply "Coppin-Morgan" the two Baltimore and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) rivals will meet this Saturday, Feb. 29 for the 82nd installment of their annual rivalry. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Hill Field House. The game will be carried live on the Heritage Sports Radio Network at HSRN.com.
 
BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears (14-13, 9-4 MEAC), winners of two straight and four of their last six games, are coming off a 61-41 victory over Delaware State (2/24). Chelsea Mitchell scored 17 points and grabbed 17 boards, both game highs to record her 13th double-double of the season. Ashia McCalla added 13 points and Dahnye Redd finished with 10 points, as Morgan avenged its road loss to Delaware State in the MEAC opener in Dover, Del. (1/4). Morgan State has been led by Mitchell, who is nearly averaging a double-double with 15.1 points per game and 9.9 rebounds per contest. Redd is scoring 12.7 points and 7.5 rebounds and McCalla is posting 12.3 points per game.
 
MORGAN VS. COPPIN SERIES NOTES: Coppin State leads the all-time series, 42-39. The Lady Bears have won four straight regular season contests and five of the last six games over the rival Eagles, following a 47-42 victory earlier this season at Coppin State (1/25). Last season Morgan State swept the season series, including the regular season finale and four days later Coppin State upset the Lady Bears, 50-48 in the first round of the MEAC Tournament (3/11/19).
 
BIRD SEEDS: Coppin State (3-23, 3-11 MEAC), winners of three of its last four contests, had its season-long three-game winning streak come to an end in a 72-65 defeat at home to Delaware State on Monday. Aliyah Lawson scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the loss. Chance Graham totaled 13 points and had a game-high eight rebounds in her final home game as an Eagle. Alexandria Hamilton added 12 points to go with four assists. Graham has led the Eagles with 11.4 points and 9.5 rebounds a game. Lawson is adding 10.5 points a game.
 
NEXT UP: MSU will close out the regular season on Thursday, March 5, when it hosts Norfolk State for 'Senior Day' at 5:30 p.m. It will be the final home contest for seniors Dawn Gipson, Dezyree Morales, Jihayah Chavis and Chelsea Mitchell, who will be honored prior to tip-off.

DAVIS TWO SHY OF VICTORY NO. 400: MSU head coach Ed Davis Jr. picked up his 398th career coaching victory, following the Lady Bears' win over Delaware State (2/24). Davis, who is in his eighth season with the Lady Bears and fourth as head coach, has guided his teams to a total of four NCAA Tournament appearances, while at Bowie State (3) and at Delaware State (1) and two Division II Sweet 16 appearances.
 
MARYLAND'S FINEST: Out of all the leading rebounders of the eight Division I women's basketball programs in the State of Maryland, MSU's Chelsea Mitchell ranks first with 9.9 rebounds per contest. A native of Columbia, Md., she has led the team in rebounding 19 times this season, including a season-best 17 rebounds against Delaware State (2/24). She was held without a rebound in the loss at Bethune-Cookman (1/13), which marked the only time this season she failed to grab a rebound.
 
Rk. Name, School  Rebounds
1. Chelsea Mitchell, Morgan State                      9.9
2. Chance Graham, Coppin State                          9.5
3. Stephanie Karcz, Loyola-Maryland                    9.4
4. Nukiya Mayo, Towson                                        7.9
5. Kaila Charles, Maryland                                     7.7
6. Jen Gast, UMBC                                                7.4
7. Morgan Taylor, Navy                                          5.0
8. Bairesha Gill-Miles, Md. Eastern Shore             4.4
 
MITCHELL RANKS 4TH/7TH NATIONALLY IN STEALS: Chelsea Mitchell currently ranks fourth in the nation in total steals (101) and is seventh in steals per game (3.74). She leads the Lady Bears in steals this season and has 180 for her career.
 
GIPSON MAKES DEBUT: Senior forward Dawn Gipson made her long awaited debut as a Lady Bear when she checked into Monday's Delaware State game with 3:25 left in the first quarter. Gipson, who has battled through injuries, wasted no time, as four seconds later she scored her first points of her Morgan State career, when she went baseline for a reverse layup. The Jacksonville, Fla. native finished with six points on 3-for-3 shooting, collected two steals and had a block in 12 minutes of action.
 
MAKE IT A DOUBLE: Chelsea Mitchell picked up her team– and MEAC-leading 13th double-double of the season in the win over Delaware State (2/24). Mitchell scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds.
 
PROTECTING THE 'HOUSE': Morgan State enters today's contest with an 8-1 record at Hill Field House this season and has won nine of its last 10 home games dating back to a 70-47 win over Coppin State in the season finale last year. The Lady Bears' 8-1 record is the program's best home court mark since the 2017-18 team finished 10-3. 
 
THIRD QUARTER DOMINANCE: Morgan State has outscored its opponents in the third quarter by a whopping 83 points (463-380). In the win over Howard (2/1), the Lady Bears limited Howard to just three points in the third period.
 
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.
 
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.
 
RUN ENDS AT FIVE: Morgan State's season-long five-game winning streak came to an end, following a 71-61 loss at home to Maryland Eastern Shore (2/8). It's the first five-game winning streak for the program since 2016-17. 
 
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.