WASHINGTON, D.C. (Feb. 6, 2021)-Morgan State nearly overcame a 22-point deficit on the road on Saturday afternoon, but would eventually fall to Beltway rival Howard, 70-68 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division contest at Burr Gymnasium.
 
Morgan State fell to 8-3 on the season and 5-2 in the MEAC with the loss, while Howard improved to 9-2, 5-1 MEAC and leaped over Morgan State into sole first in the northern division.  
 
The loss ended a season-long five-game winning streak for the Lady Bears, while Howard extended its winning streak to four. The Bison improved to 7-0 at home with the victory, while handing Morgan State its first MEAC road loss of the season in five games.
 
Dahnye Redd led Morgan State with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting and Ja'Niah Henson added 14 points. Adia Brisker finished with 13 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Ashia McCalla recorded 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
Howard was led by Jayla Thornton, who finished with a game-high 21 points. Thornton would knock down three treys in the game to move into a tie for first on the MEAC list for most three-pointers made with 259. Anzhane' Hutton tallied a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, while Iyanna Warren added 13 points and totaled six assists and five steals, both game highs. Brooklyn Fort-Davis fell short of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
 
Howard broke an 8-8 tie, by using an 18-4 run to close out the first quarter and take a 26-12 lead.
 
The Bison went on a 10-0 run in the second quarter to increase its advantage to 36-14, its largest lead of the game, following a layup by Krislyn Marsh with 3:34 left in the second. The guests went on an 11-2 spurt to end the half and pull within, 38-25 at the intermission.
 
Morgan State carried the momentum from the second quarter into the third, as it began the quarter going on a 10-4 run to draw within, 42-35 on a jumper by Henson with 6:40 to play in the quarter.
 
Trailing 59-49 with 5:41 remaining in the contest, Morgan State went on a 10-0 run in the span of 1:43 to even the score at 59 all. Elaija Demeza got the run going with a jumper in the lane and Brisker followed with jumper to cut the deficit to 59-53 with 4:44 left in the game. McCalla then drained a trey from the left corner to bring the Lady Bears within three points at 59-56. A foul would be called on Fort-Davis away from the ball on McCalla's shot, and Morgan would be awarded the ball under the basket. Seconds later and just inches away from her previous shot, McCalla would knock down another three-pointer to tie the game at 59 with 3:55 remaining in the game.
 
Howard would respond by scoring the next six points to take a 65-59 lead. Morgan State ended the drought with two free throws by Nina Carpenter, before Hutton knocked down two free throws for Howard to make it a 67-61 game.
 
Henson drained a three-pointer for the guests to slice the Howard lead in half at 67-64. Thornton would hit two more free throws to increase Howard's advantage to 70-65 with seven seconds left in the game. Henson, who was fouled on a three-point attempt, connected on all three free throws for the game's final score, as Morgan's comeback bid would fall two points short.
 
Morgan State shot 22-of-67 (33 percent) from the floor, including 4-of-15 (27 percent) from three-point range. The Lady Bears would shoot 20-of-26 (77 percent) from the charity stripe.
 
Howard finished the game shooting 34 percent (21-of-62) for the game and hit 3-of-13 (23 percent) from behind the arc. The Bison forced 28 Morgan State turnovers and turned them into 31 points.
 
Morgan State and Howard will conclude their weekend series on Sunday, Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. at Burr Gymnasium.
 
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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.