Game 10 (Non-Conference)
Morgan State "Lady Bears" (5-4, 0-0 MEAC) at Loyola Maryland "Greyhounds" (3-3, 0-0 Patriot League)
Date: Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Site: Baltimore, Md. (Reitz Arena)
Tip-off: 7 p.m.
Series: Morgan leads, 11-2
Live Stream: Here
Live Stats: Here
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Dec. 7, 2021)-The Morgan State-Loyola Maryland series will resume this Wednesday, Dec. 8 after a 35-year hiatus, when the two programs take the floor at 7 p.m. at Reitz Arena. The Lady Bears enter the contest riding a five-game winning streak, while the Greyhounds are coming off 56-55 victory at home over Mount St. Mary's (12/4).This will mark the 14th meeting between the two programs, but the first since the 1985-86 season, which Morgan State defeated Loyola, 77-59.
 
BEAR CLAWS: After dropping its first four games to start the season, the Lady Bears (5-4) have since won five straight, following its 58-46 victory over Hofstra on Monday. Dahnye Redd recorded 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and had a career- and game-high four blocked shots in the win. Taylor Addison also had 10 points and two steals, while Charlene Shepherd came off the bench to also score 10 points and pulled down a game-high seven rebounds. Morgan State led by as much as 19 points, but the Pride used a 20-8 run over a 10 minute span to pull within six points (42-36) with 8:26 left in the game, but would get no closer.
 
ABOUT THE GREYHOUNDS: Loyola (3-5) ended a three-game losing skid with a 56-55 victory over visiting Mount St. Mary's on Bri Rozzi's game winner with 11 seconds remaining. It was the sixth time in eight contests this season that Loyola has been in a one-possession game during the final minute of regulation. Taleah Dixon scored a game-high 23 points and added six rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block in the win. Rozzi finished with 13 points and Lex Therien came off the bench to add 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds. The Greyhounds are riding a three-game winning streak at home.  
 
MSU VS. LOYOLA MARYLAND SERIES: Morgan State holds an 11-2 lead over Loyola Maryland in a series which began in 1974. The Lady Bears won the last meeting between the two teams, 77-59 during the 1985-86 season. Loyola's last win in the series was a 78-68 victory at home during the 1977-78 campaign.  
 
NEXT UP: Morgan State will return to the court on Friday, Dec. 17, when it travels to Lexington, Ky. to take on Kentucky in a non-conference game at noon. It will be the first meeting between the two programs.
 
JONES NAMED MEAC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman guard Emily Jones was selected as the MEAC Rookie of the Week (12/7). A native of San Francisco, Calif., Jones came off the bench to score eight points on 4-of-6 shooting in a win at Navy (12/2). She also grabbed three rebounds and dished out two assists against the Mids.
 
THAT'S FIVE: Morgan State upped its season-long winning streak to five games, following a 58-46 victory over Hofstra (12/6). The win also gave the Lady Bears a 2-0 start in December, a month which since 2003, Morgan State has not won more than three games in.
 
PROTECTING THE 'HOUSE': Morgan State has picked up right where it left off the season before, by defending its home floor and earning three home wins in as many tries to begin the 2021-22 home slate. With the wins, Morgan State has now won 20 of its last 22 home games dating back to the 2018-19 season finale. During last year's abbreviated season due to the Covid-19 pandemic, MSU went 6-1 at Hill Field House. The season before that the Lady Bears concluded the 2019-20 season with a 10-1 home record, which was the program's best home court mark since the 2017-18 team finished 10-3.
 
TURNING UP THE PRESSURE: Morgan State forced an opponent season-high 40 turnovers out of Washington Adventist (11/24) and turned those turnovers into 40 points. 30 of the turnovers were by way of steals with Adia Brisker and Jayla Atmore leading the way with five steals apiece. The 40 turnovers surpassed the previous season high of 36 turnovers by Notre Dame of Maryland (11/19). The Lady Bears scored a season-high 48 points off of Notre Dame's turnovers. To date, Morgan State has forced 234 opponent turnovers, while collecting a league-leading 125 steals (13.9) per game.
 
BRISKER DROPS 22 ON DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPIONS: Junior guard Adia Brisker totaled a game-high 22 points in Morgan State's 91-36 loss at third-ranked and defending national champion Stanford (11/11). The Pittsburgh native shot 6-of-10 from the field, including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and connected on 8-of-10 free throws. She also led Morgan with four rebounds and tied a game-high three steals.
 
MORGAN IN SEASON OPENERS: The Lady Bears are 12-33 all-time in season openers dating back to 1977, following 69-53 loss at San Francisco (11/9). It was the seventh season opening loss for the Lady Bears in nine years. Morgan State at one point had lost 23 straight openers, prior to winning three straight from 2006-08.
 
DAVIS A THREE-TIME HALL OF FAMER: Morgan State head coach Ed Davis Jr. was inducted into his third Hall of Fame in September 2017, when his 2006-07 Delaware State women's basketball team was inducted for capturing the 2007 MEAC title. Davis was also inducted into the Bowie State University Hall of Fame in 2014 as a coach, where he guided the Lady Bulldogs to three CIAA titles and a pair of Division II "Sweet 16" appearances and in 2008 he was inducted into the West Virginia State University Hall of Fame as a basketball player.
 
MORGAN PICKED SECOND IN MEAC: Morgan was picked to finish second in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Preseason Poll, as voted by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. It marked the second consecutive season that the Lady Bears have been picked to finish second in the league's preseason poll. Last season, Morgan was picked to finish second in the then MEAC Northern Division poll, and did just that. The Lady Bears would go 12-4 overall and went 8-2 in division play to place second. Morgan would advance to the semifinals of the MEAC Tournament, falling to eventual champion, North Carolina A&T.
 
REDD NAMED PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Graduate player Dahnye Redd was named 2021-22 MEAC Preseason Player of the Year. Redd becomes the first Lady Bears to receive that honor since Morgan State star and 2021 MSU Hall of Fame inductee Corin "Tiny" Adams earned the selection for the 2009-10 season. A first-team All-MEAC selection from last season, Redd scored in double figures 11 times in 15 games, including a pair of 20-game efforts and two double-doubles. The Darby, Pa. native ranked sixth in the league in scoring (13.5) and rebounding (7.3). She also ranked fifth in the MEAC in offensive rebounds (3.1), seventh in free throw percentage (.773) and eighth in field goal percentage (.403). In MEAC play, Redd was fifth in field goal percentage (.400), seventh in scoring (12.5) and ninth in rebounding (6.9). She was a MEAC Co-Player of the Week selection (1/9 and a two-time College Sports Madness MEAC Player of the Week (11/30 and 11/4).
 
MCCALLA, HENSON, BRISKER EARN MEAC PRESEASON HONORS: Senior guard Ashia McCalla and junior guard Ja'Niah Henson were selected to the Preseason All-MEAC first team and junior forward Adia Brisker was named to the third team. McCalla started all 16 games a season ago and averaged 10.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. A native of Greenbelt, Md., McCalla, who was an All-MEAC third team selection a year ago, ranked 15th in the MEAC in scoring and reached double figures in scoring 11 times. A native of Baltimore, Md., Henson earned All-MEAC second team honors during the 2020-21 campaign after averaging 11.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 31.4 minutes per game. A College Sports Madness MEAC Player of the Week (2/8), Henson started all 16 games and ranked 14th in the MEAC in scoring and was third in free throw percentage. Brisker concluded her sophomore campaign and first season as a Lady Bear by being named to the MEAC All-Tournament Team last season. She started in three of the 16 games and averaged 8.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Brisker recorded a season-high 23 points, while shooting 7-of-8 from the free throw line (87%) and grabbed three rebounds in the MEAC semifinal game against North Carolina A&T State (3/12).
  
GRAHAM NAMED ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH: Morgan State head coach Edward Davis on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021 officially announced the promotion of Donchez Graham to associate head coach. Graham, who is in his second stint at Morgan State, enters his 10th overall season with the Lady Bears' program and first as associate head coach. Graham had previously spent four seasons at MSU, joining the staff for the 2005-06 campaign. During his first stint, Graham helped lead the Lady Bears to 58 victories in those four seasons. In his second season, the Lady Bears reached the 2007 MEAC title game and by the third season they had set a school record 19 wins on the Division I level. After successful stints at West Virginia and the University of Charleston in South Carolina, Graham returned to Morgan State for the 2016-17 season.
 
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY: The Lady Bears welcome a total of eight newcomers this season, including three transfer players who are coming from four-year Universities and five freshmen. Senior forward Charlene Shepherd comes to Morgan State from the University of North Texas, senior forward Taylor Addison transferred from Mount St. Mary's University and junior forward Sunshine McCrae transferred from UNC-Wilmington. They are joined by freshmen forward Joel Benoit (Sacramento, Calif./Inderkum HS), guard Emily Jones (San Francisco, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory), guard Alaine Payne (Fort Worth, Texas/North Crowley HS), forward Kaia Ponder (Dallas, Texas/Richardson HS) and forward Fatima Black (Oklahoma City, Okla./Norman North HS).
 
REMATCH: Two of Morgan State's non-conference opponents this season, at Saint Peter's (Nov. 29) and at Navy (Dec. 2) are rematches from the 2020-21 campaign. Morgan State went 2-0 at home against those opponents, defeating Saint Peter's, 65-57 and Navy, 67-63.
 
FIVE DIVISION I TRANSFERS ON ROSTER: The 2021-22 Morgan State roster will feature a total of five Division I transfers, including one graduate player. Last season Morgan State had a total of six Division I transfers on the roster. Headlining this season's list is graduate, Jayla Atmore, who transferred to Morgan a year ago from the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Junior Adia Brisker (Niagara University) also came to Morgan last season. Atmore and Brisker are joined by senior newcomers Taylor Addison (Mount St. Mary's) and Charlene Shepherd (North Texas) and junior Sunshine McCrae (UNC-Wilmington).
 
SAYING GOODBYE: The Lady Bears will say goodbye to a total of eight seniors, including three graduate players at the conclusion of the season. Four-year member Ashia McCalla, three-year members and graduate players Elaija Demeza and Dahnye Redd, two-year member and graduate player Jayla Atmore and two-year members Carrie Lee and Khaliah Hines, along with newcomers Taylor Addison and Charlene Shepherd will be honored. Morgan State will honor its senior on 'Senior Night' when the Lady Bears host Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday, Feb. 28 in the home finale at Hill Field House.
 
2022 MEAC TOURNAMENT: The 2021 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) men's and women's basketball tournament is scheduled for March 9-12, 2022 at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va. 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.