CORVALLIS, Oregon (Dec. 28, 2023)--Morgan State returned to the floor on Thursday afternoon, following a nine-day hiatus for the holiday break with a road contest against unbeaten Oregon State out of the Pac-12 Conference.
 
Behind a game-high 24 points from Raegan Beers on 9-of-12 shooting, the host Beavers remained unbeaten, as they defeated Morgan State, 80-51 at Gill Coliseum. It was the first meeting between the two programs.
 
Oregon State, which entered the contest sitting 30^th with 11 points in the ranks of those receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, improved to 11-0, while the Lady Bears dropped their third straight and fell to 4-9.
 
Adlee Blacklock came off the bench to score 15 points and Kelsey Rees added 11 and seven rebounds for Oregon State. Beers and Timea Gardiner each grabbed a game-high eight rebounds to help the host Beavers to a 47-25 rebounding advantage over Morgan.
 
Morgan State was led by Joelle Johnson's 14 points, while Sedayjha Payne added 11. Amari Smith came off the bench to score eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, including 2-for-2 from three-point range. Laila Fair made her Morgan debut and finished with a game-high four blocks to go with six points, a team-best five rebounds and two steals in the start. Anjanae Muech also made her Morgan debut and recorded four points, two rebounds and a steal.
 
The Lady Bears shot 32.8% (22-of-67) from the floor and were 3-of-15 (20%) from beyond the arc. Oregon State connected on 31-of-56 (55.4%) field goals and knocked down nine three-pointers on 23 attempts (39.1%).
 
The visiting Lady Bears recorded 14 steals and forced Oregon State into 19 turnovers. Tamaria Rumph led the charge with a game-high four steals, while Dakota Alston, Johnson and Fair all had two steals. Morgan committed eight turnovers and the Beavers had just two steals for the game.
 
Morgan got on the board first on a jumper by Johnson and the hosts later used a 10-0 spurt capped off by a three-pointer from Blacklock to take a 17-6 advantage with 2:37 to play. Blacklock would close out the period knocking down a trey with .05 left on the clock and converting the free throw to complete the four-point play and give the Beavers a 26-16 advantage after one quarter of play.
 
The Lady Bears, who would outscore Oregon State 20-16 in the second quarter, used a 10-0 run over the first four minutes of the period to even the score at 26 all on a jumper by Mueck with six minutes remaining.
 
Beers ended the run with a free throw to put the hosts in front 27-26. Smith would knock down a three-pointer to give the Lady Bears a 29-27 lead at the 5:35 mark. However, that would be the last lead for the Lady Bears. Oregon State closed out the second period with a 13-7 run to take a 42-36 halftime advantage.
 
The second half belonged to Oregon State, as the Beavers outscored Morgan a combined 38-15. Oregon State limited the guests to just 7-of-33 (21.2%) shooting in the second half, including 3-of-17 (17.6%) in the fourth quarter.  
 
Morgan State will be off until Sunday, Dec. 31, when they close out 2023 with a trip to Stanford, Calif. to face Stanford. This will be the second meeting between the two programs. Morgan State and Stanford first met on Nov. 11, 2021, with the then defending national champions and third-ranked Cardinals winning 91-36.
 
 
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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.