Game 15
Morgan State (8-6, 2-2 MEAC) at North Carolina Central (2-13, 1-5 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022
Site: Durham, N.C. (McDougald-McLendon Arena)
Tip-off: 2 p.m.
Series Record: Morgan State leads, 13-5
T/V: N/A
Audio: N/A
Live Stream: Here
Live Stats: Here
Websites: MorganStateBears.com | nccueaglepride.com
 
BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 29, 2022)-Morgan State travels to Durham, N.C. to face the North Carolina Central Eagles in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) contest on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. at the McDougald-McLendon Arena. The contest will be carried live on NCCUeaglepride.com. The game will be the first meeting between the two since last season's MEAC Quarterfinal game, won by Morgan State, 74-64 (3/11/21) in Norfolk, Va.  
 
HOW TO WATCH GAMES: All men's and women's basketball home games will be video streamed for free through the MorganStateBears.com website. The latest broadcast and video stream information will always be listed on men's and women's basketball schedule pages at MorganStateBears.com.
 
MEN'S & WOMEN'S BASKETBALL RADIO: All home games and select away games for MSU men's and women's basketball will once again be available through Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN.com). Lamont Germany will handle play-by-play responsibilities and will also host pre-game and post-game shows. Including exclusive interviews with members of the teams and women's coach Ed Davis and men's coach Kevin Broadus. Fans can download the HSRN app for free and listen to the MSU broadcasts from anywhere. Simply search for HSRN when using the iHeartRadio app.

BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears (8-6, 2-2 MEAC) enter Saturday's North Carolina Central contest coming off a 72-60 road win at Maryland Eastern Shore (1/31). Ja'Niah Henson scored a career and game-high 20 points, had three assists, and grabbed two rebounds. Adia Brisker added 15 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Ashia McCalla added 12 points as well, while Taylor Addison pulled down a game-high six rebounds.  
 
EAGLE SCRATCHES: North Carolina Central (2-13, 1-5 MEAC), losers of five of its last six games, was dealt a 66-55 loss at home to Howard on Saturday. Diamond Thomas scored a game-high 27 points and had eight rebounds, while Kira Lowery scored 11 points, had seven rebounds, seven assists and five steals in the loss. Taylor Williams grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
 
MSU VS. NCCU SERIES NOTES: Morgan State leads the all-time series, 13-5. The Lady Bears have won three straight and six of the last seven meetings against the Eagles. Morgan State and N.C. Central last met in the quarterfinal round of the 2021 MEAC Tournament. Morgan State would win, 74-64 at the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Va.
  
NEXT UP: Morgan State will travel to Orangeburg, S.C. to take on the Bulldogs of South Carolina Central on Monday, Feb. 7 at 5:30 p.m. inside Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center. The game was originally scheduled for Jan. 10, but was postponed due to Covid-19 protocols within the SCSU program. The two teams will then meet a week later when Morgan State plays host to South Carolina State on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. at Hill Field House. 
 
MCCALLA CLOSING IN ON 1,000 POINTS: Senior guard Ashia McCalla is on the verge of reaching the 1,000 points plateau for her career. The Greenbelt, Md. native enters Saturday's contest having scored 943 points, just 57 points shy of reaching the milestone and becoming the 16th Lady Bear in program history to score 1,000 points.
 
HENSON SETS CAREER HIGH: Ja'Niah Henson connected on 6-of-9 shooting to finish with a career- and game-high 20 points on the road at Maryland Eastern Shore (1/31). The Baltimore, Md. native was a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range and also knocked down all four of her free throw attempts. Henson also added three assists and two rebounds.  
 
PICKPOCKETS: As a team, Morgan State has recorded 165 steals on the season through its first 14 games, which ranks No. 1 in the MEAC. Adia Brisker leads the team with 30 steals, while Jayla Atmore has totaled 28 thefts and Taylor Addison has 26. Brisker and is averaging 2.1 steals per game and Atmore is averaging 2.1 steals per game, which ranks third and fourth, respectively in the MEAC, while Addison is averaging 1.9 steals a game, which is eighth.
 
TURNING UP THE PRESSURE: To date, Morgan State has forced 330 opponent turnovers (161 by way of steals), while collecting a league-leading 11.5 steals per game. 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 by Notre Dame of Maryland (11/19). The Lady Bears scored a season-high 48 points off Notre Dame. 
 
SEE YOU REAL SOON: The Lady Bears will play a home-and-home schedule against both North Carolina Central and South Carolina State within a week apart. Morgan State will travel to Durham, N.C. (Feb. 5) and Orangeburg, S.C. (Feb. 7) to face NCCU and SCSU, respectively, before welcoming the Eagles and Bulldogs a week later in Baltimore on Feb. 12 and Feb. 14.
 
PROTECTING THE 'HOUSE': Morgan State improved to 4-1 at Hill Field House during the 2021-22 season, following its 67-61 victory over Howard (1/22). With the win, Morgan State has now won 21 of its last 24 home games dating back to the 2018-19 season finale. The Lady Bears' lone home loss was a 67-65 setback to Coppin State (1/15). 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 campaign with a 10-1 home record, which was the program's best home court mark since the 2017-18 team finished 10-3. 
 
ADDISON PERFECT FROM THE FLOOR: Taylor Addison connected on 6-of-6 shooting to finish with 18 points against Coppin State (1/15). The Columbia, Md. native was a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range and also knocked down all three of her free throw attempts. Addison also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, falling one board shy of recording a double-double.
 
STREAKS COME TO AN END AT SIX: Morgan State's loss to Coppin State (1/15) put an end to several active streaks involving the number six (6). Morgan State entered the MEAC season opening contest against Coppin State with a season-long six-game winning streak and had won six consecutive games against the Eagles. The Lady Bears were also sporting a six-game home court winning streak at Hill Field House, dating back to the 2020-21 season. All of that would come to an end, following a 67-65 victory by Coppin State. 
 
38-DAY LAYOFF: Morgan State ended its longest in season hiatus between games in program history when it finally returned to the floor against Coppin State (1/15). It had been 38 days since the Lady Bears last played a game – a 64-55 victory at Loyola Maryland (12/8). Since that time, Morgan has had four games that were canceled or postponed due to Covid protocols either in the MSU or its opponent's program.
 
POSTPONMENTS: Morgan State had its MEAC opener in Durham, N.C. against North Carolina Central (1/8) postponed due to Covid protocols within the Eagles' program. The game will now be played on Feb. 5. The Lady Bears' contest at South Carolina State (1/10) was also postponed because of Covid protocols in the Bulldogs' program. That game is slated to be made up on Sunday, Feb. 5 in Orangeburg, S.C.
 
WELCOME HOME: A familiar face joined the Morgan State sideline this season with the addition of Jamie Smith as an assistant coach. Smith, who is no stranger to Morgan State, was a three-year starter for the Lady Bears from 2010-13, after transferring from Saint Peter's, following her freshman season. As a sophomore, she helped the Lady Bears advance to the first round of the WNIT against host Virginia, where she scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-3 from three-point range. It was Morgan State's first-ever postseason appearance on the Division I level. Smith returns to Morgan State after spending a total of four seasons at Niagara University, the last three as an assistant coach and her first as the Director of Women's Basketball Operations.
 
MSU SECURES NON-CONFERENCE WINNING RECORD: Morgan State secured its second straight non-conference winning record (6-4), following a 64-55 victory at Loyola Maryland (12/8). The Lady Bears' final two originally scheduled games at Kentucky (12/17) and against Penn (12/30) were both cancelled due to Covid protocols. Last season Morgan State finished 3-1 in non-conference competition, to earn its first winning record against non-conference opponents since the 2017-18 campaign (7-6).
 
TAKE SIX: Morgan State upped its season-long winning streak to six games, following a 64-55 victory at Loyola Maryland (12/8). The win also gave the Lady Bears a 3-0 start in December, a month which since 2003, Morgan State has not won more than three games in.
 
A DECEMBER TO REMEMBER: Morgan State, which is having its best month of December in program history, enters the contest 3-0 in the month. Dating back to 2003, the three wins tie for the most victories in December matching the 2006 and 2017 teams, which each went 3-3 in the month. MSU has been off since a 64-55 victory at Loyola Maryland (12/8). The team's road game at Kentucky (12/17) was postponed due to COVID issues within the Morgan program. In the win over Loyola, Dahnye Redd scored a team-high 15 points, Ashia McCalla added 14 and Charlene Shepherd came off the bench to add 10 points and a game-high six rebounds

MORGAN-LOYOLA MARYLAND RENEW SERIES: The Morgan State and Loyola women's basketball programs renewed its series on Dec. 8 after a 35-year hiatus. The Lady Bears would win 64-55. It was the first meeting between the two schools separated by 2.7 miles, since the 1985-86 season. Morgan State now leads the all-time series, 12-2.
 
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.
 
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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering nearly 140 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, and the only university to have its entire campus designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, 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.