DOVER, Del. (Jan. 16, 2021)-Playing for the first time since their Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Quarterfinal matchup a year ago in Norfolk, Va. – a 64-63 win by Morgan Sate – the Lady Bears traveled to Delaware State for Game 1 of their weekend series against the Hornets.
 
Ashia McCalla scored a game-high 13 points and Adia Brisker came off the bench to score nine, as the visiting Lady Bears defeated Delaware State, 49-48 on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Hall.
 
The win was the Lady Bears' third straight over the Hornets and first victory in Dover since a 71-52 win on Feb. 20, 2017.
 
Morgan State (5-2, 2-1 MEAC), which trailed by as much as 11 points in the first half, took its largest lead of the contest, 47-40 on a steal and layup by Sydney Searcy with 5:54 to play.
 
The Hornets (2-5, 1-2 MEAC) would score the next six points to pull within 47-46 on a layup by Melissa Sam with 1:22 left in the game. Dahnye Redd hit two free throws to end Delaware State's run and increase the guests lead to 49-46 with 1:05 remaining.
 
Sam scored on another layup 23 seconds later to cut the lead back to a point (49-48) with 42 seconds left in what would be the final points of the game.
 
Morgan State shot 13-of-50 (26 percent) for the game, including 3-for-8 (37.5 percent) from three-point range. The Lady Bears shot a season-best 80 percent from the charity stripe, connecting on 20-of-25 from the line.
 
Delaware State finished the game shooting 36 percent (22-of-61) and was just 2-of-20 (10 percent) from three-point range. The Hornets went to the free throw line a combined four times and made two.
 
Morgan State held a 13-11 lead, following a jumper by Ja'Niah Henson with 9:23 left in the first half. Delaware State broke a 16 all tie with 5:17 left in the first half, by going on an 11-0 run, capped off by a Zoe Holmes layup to increase the Hornets lead to 27-11 with 30 seconds remaining.
 
Facing their largest deficit of the game, Brisker closed out the half scoring the final five points for the Lady Bears, including a desperation heave basket that she launched as she dribbled across half court as the horn sounded to the Hornets' lead to 27-21 at the break.
 
Delaware State was led by Holmes, who came off the bench to score 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds.
 
The two squads will close out the series on Sunday, Jan. 17 at 1 p.m. at Memorial Hall.