BALTIMORE, Md. (Nov. 13, 2022)--The Morgan State Lady Bears shook off a tough 0-4 on Saturday to run a perfect 4-0 record in Sunday's play at the MEAC #1 matches held at Millsboro Lanes in Millsboro, Delaware. They are currently tied with the third best record after the first weekend of conference play.
 
Final Standings after MEAC #1 (5-game Baker Format)
1. North Carolina A & T                      8-0
2. UMES                                             6-2
3. Delaware State                               6-2
4. Morgan State                                 4-4
5. UAB                                                4-4
6. Coppin State                                   3-5
7. Monmouth                                       3-5
8. Norfolk State                                   1-7
9. Howard                                           1-7
 
Saturday's Match Results
Morgan State 803 vs  Bye
Morgan State 882 vs Coppin State 884
Morgan State 968 vs UAB 993
Morgan State 985 vs UMES 1,018
Morgan State 952 vs North Carolina A&T 1,035
 
The Lady Bears averaged 196.88 for 17 of their final 18 games, and 198.58 for their final 12 Baker games, but could not outpace their last three opponents, who were able to claim the wins. Morgan finished 0-4 after Saturday's rounds.
 
Sunday's Match Results
Match #1
Morgan State 965, Monmouth 896
Morgan State picked up where it left off in scoring with a strong opening win against Monmouth. A 210 and 212 Game 4 and 5 tipped the match in favor of the Lady Bears. Naomi Smith had a look to the pocket and fired 5 strikes in the match. La'Monique Berrios, from the lead off position also struck 5 times against the Lady Hawks. Natalia Miranda Vega filled all 10 frames for Morgan State in the opening contest. Sophomore Carrington Beaman came into the line-up and proceeded to throw 4 out of 4 pocket strikes for the Lady Bears.
 
Match #2
Morgan State 914, Norfolk State 771                                                                                             
After getting out of the gate slow with a 144, Morgan found its rhythm with back-to-back 202 games, and held firm to close out Norfolk State in Match #2. Carrington Beaman led the Bears in Match 2 with 6 pocket strikes. Naomi Smith again helped propel the Bears with 5 strikes and filling 9 out of 10 frames. Natalia Miranda Vega again was on point again filling 9 out of 10 frames. La'Monique Berrios fired 4 strikes, and freshman, Johnna Hill was inserted in the line-up in the 7^th frame and proceeded to throw 4 out of 4 pocket strikes.
 
Match #3
Morgan State 991, Howard 820                                                                                                       
The Lady Bears played the transition well for the second straight day. In the match against Howard, they played together well and rattled off games of 243 and 215 in Games 4 and 5 to finish the match. Johnna Hill continued her string of strikes from the previous match, throwing the first 5 pocket strikes in the set. She finished with 8 strikes total and no opens in the match. Carrington Beaman was moved to anchor and continued her strong play with 7 strikes and filling 9 out of 10 frames. Natalia Miranda Vega followed with 5 strikes and again filling 9 out of 10 frames. La'Monique Berrios also contributed with 5 strikes from the lead off position.
 
Match #4
Morgan State 974, Delaware State 900                                                                                                                    
The last match of the day had the Lady Bears paired against the Hornets of Delaware State. After 3 games the Hornets had a 571-530 lead over the Bears. In Game #4 things changed quickly as Morgan State took advantage of the right lane which was the higher scoring lanes of the pair for both teams. The Bears out shot DSU 221-160, taking the lead by 19 pins and claiming lane choice. From that right lane in Game 5, the Bears started strong and finished even stronger with Hill striking in the 9^th and Beaman putting 3 strikes in the pit in the 10^th frame. Game 5 saw the Bears shoot a 223 to the Hornets 168. La'Monique Berrios had 8 strikes during the match. Both Hill and Beaman had 6 strikes during the match with Hill filling 9 out of 10 frames. Natalia Miranda Vega fired 5 strikes and continued her fine play filling 9 out of 10 frames. Cheyenne Washington came into the line-up and put 2 pocket strikes up in Game 4 to help turn the match in the Bears favor.
 
Notable Baker Averages for Morgan State:
Johnna Hill 20.58 for 72 frames. Hill averaged a blistering 24.34 for 23 frames in Saturday's round, striking 18 times in 24 frames. Carrington Beaman was strong in her first tournament all season, after coming off the injured list to average 19.1 for 70 frames and 20.8 for 32 frames on Sunday. Cheyenne Washington averaged 18.7 for 51 frames, Natalia Miranda Vega averaged 18.63 for 89 frames, La'Monique Berrios averaged 18.55 for 81 frames and Naomi Smith averaged 17.52 for 38 frames.
 
Coach Falbo commented on the weekend "Talk about complete turn-around of a weekend. After scoring well but nothing to show for it on Friday, we communicated together and put a plan in for Saturday, which worked really well. Seeing the ladies go back to back days where they got stronger as the day went on is leveling up for this team. Their continued great work ethic will only serve to elevate our results. I congratulate them for their resiliency and great response this weekend."
 
Morgan State will find themselves back at Millsboro Lanes next weekend when they compete in the UMES Hawk Classic.