DELAND, Fla. (Dec. 17, 2023)-The Morgan State women's basketball team nearly overcame a 20-point deficit with under 15-minutes to play, but its comeback bid would come up just short, as the Lady Bears fell, 56-48 on Sunday afternoon at Edmunds Center.
Stetson (3-8) remained unbeaten at home this season, as it improved to 3-0. Morgan State fell to 4-7 and remained winless on the road in four attempts.
Morgan State was led by
Joelle Johnson, who scored a game-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting and hauled in a team-high nine rebounds. Johnson would also account for all of Morgan's steals, finishing with a game-high three.
Kaia Ponder came off the bench to add 11 points.
Meeting for the first time in program history, the Stetson Hatters built a 20-point cushion on Morgan State at 47-27 on a fast break layup by Jaelyn Talley with 4:34 left in the third quarter. Stetson would hold a 50-34 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Bears, who outscored Stetson 14-6 in the fourth period, used a 12-0 run to start the final quarter and got within 50-46 after a three-pointer by Ponder with 5:13 to play. The two would trade jumpers with Jordan Peete ending Morgan's run with jumper in the paint and
Gabrielle Johnson responding with a jumper with 4:31 remaining in the contest to bring the guests within 52-48. That would be the last points of the game for Morgan State.
Stetson would hold Morgan State scoreless for the remainder of the game, while scoring the final four points to secure the 56-48 victory.
The Hatters began the game using an 8-0 to take a 9-2 advantage and led by as much as eight points (15-7) in the first quarter, following a jumper by Jamiya Turner with 3:13 left in the opening period. Morgan State responded with an 11-2 spurt to take an 18-7 lead. The run was triggered by a three-pointer by Ponder and
Dakota Alston followed with back-to-back treys to pull the guests within 17-16. Johnson then knocked down a jumper with 1:13 left to give the Bears the one-point advantage. Stetson closed out the period with two free throws by Quentarra Mitchell to take a 19-18 lead after one quarter of play.
The hosts would create some distance from Morgan State in the second period, outscoring the Lady Bears 22-7 to take a 41-25 halftime lead. The Hatters went to the free throw line 14 times in the first half, connecting on nine, while Morgan State was just 1-for-2 from the charity stripe.
Stetson was led by Jordan Peete, who scored 11 points. Anna Kunzwiler scored nine points on 3-for-3 from three-point range and Mitchell came off the bench to score nine. Talley also had nine points, added two steals and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds to help the Hatters hold a 38-30 rebounding advantage over the Lady Bears.
Morgan State will conclude its trip to the Sunshine State when it travels to Orlando to take on the University of Central Florida on Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 2 p.m. at Addition Financial Arena. The game will air live on Big 12 Now and ESPN+.
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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.
