BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 2, 2021)-The Morgan State women's basketball team returned to the court for the first time in 2021 and unfortunately was dealt a 73-48 loss at home to Beltway rival Howard on Saturday afternoon in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division opener for both teams at Hill Field House.
 
Preseason MEAC first team selection Jayla Thornton scored a game-high 21 points, Anzhane Hutton added 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while Gia Thorpe came off the bench and scored 10 points and recorded a game-high two steals to help the visiting Bison hand the Lady Bears their first home loss of the season.
 
Thornton, shot 6-of-14 from the floor, including four from three-point range, while adding four boards, a block and a steal in the win, as Howard improved to 53-21 all-time against Morgan State.
 
Morgan State (3-2, 0-1 MEAC) was led by its Preseason MEAC first team selection in Dahnye Redd, who finished with a team-high 16 points. Desiree Allen, who was making her Morgan State debut, pulled down a team-high eight rebounds to go with six points and tied Redd with a game-high two steals.
 
The Bison (5-1, 1-0 MEAC) held Morgan State to 24 percent (17-of-70) shooting for the game, including seven percent in the fourth quarter, while holding the Lady Bears to just one field goal on 15 attempts. The Lady Bears also struggled from three-point range, connecting on 2-of-22 attempts.
 
Offensively, Howard finished the game connecting on 21-of-51 for 41 percent and shot 5-of-22 (23 percent) from beyond the three-point arc.
 
The Bison also took advantage of their opportunities from the free throw line, converting 26-of-36 for 72 percent. Morgan State went to the line 17 times, knocking down 12 for 70.6 percent.
 
Morgan State held a brief 4-3 lead at the 8:08 mark of the first quarter after back-to-back baskets by Redd. However, that would be the Lady Bears' last lead of the day. The Bison countered with a 14-3 run to take a 10-point lead at 17-7 with 3:30 remaining in the opening period.
 
Howard held an 18-13 lead after one quarter of play and extended its lead to 36-23 at the intermission after outscoring the Lady Bears, 18-10 in the second quarter.
 
A three-pointer by Thornton gave Howard its largest lead at the time of 18 points (43-25) with 6:32 left in the third quarter. Morgan State began to show some life, using a 16-6 run, capped off by a layup from Redd to pull within 49-41. Thornton closed out the scoring knocking down two free throws to up the Howard advantage to 10 points (51-41) at the end of three quarters.
 
Howard put the finishing touches on the game by outscoring Morgan State, 22-7 in the fourth quarter and holding the hosts to 1-of-15 shooting. The Bison began the quarter scoring the first 11 points to extend their lead to 62-41. Elaija Demeza (seven points) knocked down two free throws to give the Lady Bears their first points of the period with 6:41 left in the game.
 
After Howard's Kaiya Creek gave the guests their largest lead of the contest (27 points) at 70-43 on a layup, Morgan State's Adia Brisker hit a three-pointer at the 4:48 mark to give the Lady Bears their lone field goal of the period.  
 
The two teams will conclude their weekend series on Sunday, Jan. 3 at 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.