Game 25
#3 Morgan State (17-7, 11-3 MEAC) vs. #6 South Carolina State (4-24, 4-10 MEAC)
Date: Thursday, March 10, 2022
Site: Norfolk, Va. (Norfolk Scope Arena)
Tip-off: 2 p.m.
Series Record: Morgan State leads, 42-40
T/V: ESPN+
Audio: HSRN.com
Live Stats: Here
Websites: MorganStateBears.com | scsuathletics.com | meachoops.com
Notes: MEAC | SC State | Morgan State | MSU MEAC Tournament History | 2022 Tournament Bracket

BALTIMORE, Md. (March 6, 2022)-After claiming a share of its first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) regular season title a week ago, third-seeded Morgan State will begin its quest for the program's first-ever MEAC Tournament championship when it faces the sixth-seeded Lady Bulldogs of South Carolina State in a MEAC Tournament quarterfinal game on Thursday, March 10 at 2 p.m. at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va. This will be the sixth all-time meeting between the two teams in the MEAC Tournament with South Carolina State holding a 4-2 advantage. Morgan State and South Carolina State last met in the tournament during the 1993 semifinals, which the Lady Bulldogs won, 80-61. Morgan's last win over S.C. State was a 70-53 victory in the first round of the 1990 MEAC Tournament.
 
BEAR CLAWS: Morgan State (17-7, 11-3 MEAC), winners of four straight and 10 of its last 11 games, enters the contest looking to win its third consecutive MEAC Quarterfinal game. The Lady Bears, who went 8-1 during the month of February, closed out the regular season earning a 53-47 road victory over crosstown rival Coppin State (3/3). The win helped the Lady Bears earn a share of the regular season title, the program's first. Charlene Shepherd scored a game-high 17 points, including six straight and eight of the Lady Bears' final 10 points down the stretch in the season finale victory. Morgan State got eight points from junior reserve Sunshine McCrae, who shot 4-of-6 from the field to go with four rebounds. Taylor Addison added seven points and five rebounds, while Shepherd pulled down a team-high eight boards to help the guests hold a 49-44 rebounding advantage over the Eagles.
 
DOG BISCUITS: South Carolina State (4-24, 4-10 MEAC) enters the contest in the midst of a three-game losing skid and have lost 10 of its last 11 games, following an 84-74 season finale loss at North Carolina Central (3/3). Nicole Gwynn scored a game-high 24 points, while Trinity Klock, who was recruited by Morgan State, came off the bench to add 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Nadia Reese also came off the bench and had 10 points.
 
MSU VS. SC STATE NOTES: Morgan State has won seven straight over the Lady Bulldogs and leads the all-time series, 42-40, following this season's sweep. The Lady Bears won the first meeting, 73-49 in Orangeburg (2/7) and defeated the Lady Bulldogs, 78-46 in Baltimore (2/14). South Carolina State however leads the all-time MEAC Tournament series, 4-2. The two teams last met during the 1993 MEAC semifinals, which S.C. State won 80-61.
 
NEXT UP: The winner of Thursday's quarterfinal contest will face the winner of Wednesday's quarterfinal between No. 2 Norfolk State and seventh-seeded North Carolina Central in a semifinal game on Friday, March 11 at 2 p.m.
 
BRISKER NAMED TO ALL-MEAC TEAMS: Junior guard Adia Brisker was named to the All-MEAC Second Team and garnered All-MEAC Defensive Team honors. Brisker led the team in total points (237), total rebounds (110) and assists (36), while finishing third on the team in scoring at 9.9 points and averaged 4.6 rebounds per game, which was fourth. Defensively, she finished second on the team in steals with 41 and had four blocks. 80 of her 110 rebounds came on the defensive end. A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Brisker played in all 24 games, making 22 starts. She led the Lady Bears in scoring six times, including a season-best 22 points on the road against #3 Stanford (11/11/21). She also led the team in rebounding six times, pulling down a season-high nine rebounds at South Carolina State (2/7). She led the MEAC in three-point field goal percentage (.320). She also ranked among MEAC leaders in several categories, including scoring (12th), rebounding (20th), sixth in free throw percentage (.731), seventh in steals (1.7) and 13th in three-pointers made (1.0) per game.
 
MCCALLA EARNS ALL-MEAC TEAM HONORS: Senior guard Ashia McCalla, who led Morgan State in scoring twice this season, connected on a team-high 30 three-pointers made, finishing fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 8.8 points, while grabbing 3.2 boards per game. She totaled 212 points, which was second most this season, pulled down 76 rebounds, finished second on the team in assists (35), third in steals (35) and added three blocks, while starting 23 of the 24 games played. A native of Greenbelt, Md., McCalla recently became the 16^th member in program history to reach the 1,000-point club at Morgan State. She enters the MEAC Tournament having scored 1,036 career points, four points shy of passing former Lady Bear Tracy Lewis (1,039 points from 1989-93) for 15^th all-time in scoring. She ranks among MEAC leaders in scoring (18^th), field goal percentage (12^th), steals (14^th), sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.300) and ninth in three-pointers made (1.3) per game.
 
LADY BEARS GET THE THIRD SEED: Morgan State, which concluded the regular season in a three-way tie for first-place in the league standings with Howard and Norfolk State, will enter this week's MEAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed. MEAC Preseason favorite Howard will be the No. 1 seed, while Norfolk State will enter as the No. 2 seed due to tiebreak scenarios.  
 
IT'S SHEPHERD TIME: Charlene Shepherd scored a game-high 17 points, eight rebounds, two steals and a block in the season finale win at Coppin State (3/3). With Morgan State clinging to a 43-42 lead with 4:21 remaining in the game, Shepherd put the Lady Bears on her back, scoring six straight and eight of the Lady Bears' final 10 points down the stretch to help Morgan capture a share of its first MEAC regular season title.
 
LET'S SHARE: Morgan State concluded the regular-season in a three-way tie with Howard and Norfolk State for a share of the MEAC crown. All three teams split the season series against one another going 1-1 and finished with identical 11-3 MEAC records. It is the Lady Bears' first MEAC regular season title in program history.
 
CHASING HISTORY: Morgan State heads into the upcoming MEAC Tournament (March 9-12) with a 17-7 overall record, just two wins shy of tying the program's record for wins in a season on the Division I level at 19, set by the 2007-08 team, which went 19-12 .
 
MCCALLA MOVING UP SCORING CHART: Senior guard Ashia McCalla scored six points in Morgan State's 53-47 victory at Coppin State (3/3) to give her 1,036 career points, four points shy of passing former Lady Bear Tracy Lewis (1,039 points from 1989-93) for 15^th all-time in scoring.
 
PICKPOCKETS: As a team, Morgan State has recorded 275 steals on the season in 24 games, which ranks No. 1 in the MEAC. Jayla Atmore leads the team with 42 steals and Adia Brisker is second with 41. Ashia McCalla has totaled 35 thefts and Taylor Addison has 31. Atmore is averaging 2.0 steals per game, while Brisker is averaging 1.7 steals per game, which ranks fifth and seventh, respectively in the MEAC. Taylor Addison is averaging 1.5 steals a game, which is 13th and McCalla, who is averaging 1.5 steals per outing ranks 14th.
 
TURNING UP THE PRESSURE: To date, Morgan State has forced 524 opponent turnovers (275 by way of steals), while collecting 11.3 steals per game, which ranks second in the MEAC. 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.  
 
PROTECTING THE 'HOUSE': Morgan State improved to 9-1 at Hill Field House during the 2021-22 season, following its 62-60 victory over Maryland Eastern Shore (2/28) in the home finale. With the win, Morgan State has now won 26 of its last 29 home games dating back to the 2018-19 season finale. The Lady Bears' lone home loss this season was a 67-65 setback to Coppin State (1/15) in the MEAC opener. 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. 
 
MCCALLA JOINS 1,000 POINTS CLUB: Senior guard Ashia McCalla scored nine points in the win over South Carolina State (2/14) to become the 16^th Lady Bears in program history to score 1,000 points. The Greenbelt, Md. native, who entered the game needing just nine points, hit a jumper with 4:31 remaining in the third period to give the Lady Bears a 48-32 advantage and give her exactly 1,000 points for her career. McCalla enters today's contest having scored 1,036 points for her career, which ranks 16^th all-time at Morgan State.
 
FIVE DIVISION I TRANSFERS ON ROSTER: The 2021-22 Morgan State roster features a total of five Division I transfers. Last season Morgan State had a total of six Division I transfers on the roster. Headlining this season's list is senior, 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). 

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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.