NORFOLK, Va. (March 8, 2023)--This afternoon was a game of runs in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Basketball Tournament. Unfortunately for second-seeded Morgan State, the seventh-seeded Lady Hawks had a little more in them in their 49-46 victory over the Lady Bears at the Scope Arena this Wednesday afternoon.
 
The first big blow came from Maryland Eastern Shore after Charlene Sheppard, whose three-pointer put Morgan ahead 10-7 with 4:52 left. UMES (10-19) scored 15 unanswered points mostly due to their defense that forced the Lady Bears to shoot more from three-point range than go inside the paint. That gave the Lady Hawks a chance to rebound, run their offense more efficiently and go inside the paint themselves.
 
Morgan State head coach Ed Davis said about this, "Everybody has been doing that to us. That's nothing we haven't seen all year long. Everybody has been playing 1-2-2. NC Central has been playing Triangle & 2. We got through a lot of that. Our biggest thing was moving the basketball."
 
Zamara Haynes, who led the Lady Hawks with 16 points ended the run with a pull up jumper with 5:36 left in the 2^nd quarter to give them a 22-10 advantage. It ballooned to a 14-point lead at 26-12 on a Mya Thomas lay-up with 4:16 left.
 
Morgan State (17-11) responded by scoring 11 unanswered to draw within 26-23 when Sedayjha Payne converted two free throws with 43 seconds left in the 1^st half.  But Haynes made the biggest play of the first half when she hit a driving three-point buzzer beater to end the first half for the Lady Hawks, who stretched their advantage to 29-23.

Sheppard, who led everyone with 21 points, said of the comeback, "I felt it was just us wanting to win the game. We didn't want to lose. We were just playing as hard as we could. Coaches were telling us to play our style of defense. Focus on the areas that we were getting beat on."
 
After a Lainey Allen free throw gave the Lady Hawks a 33-28 advantage with 5:17 left in the third quarter, The Lady Bears responded with another 11-point outburst which was capped by a Payne steal that led to a three-point play with 1:46 left. That effort gave Morgan State a 39-33 lead.
 
It was a back-and-forth affair in the fourth quarter as Ja'Niah Henson gave the Lady Bears their last lead of the afternoon at 43-42 on a steal from Allen that led to a lay-up with 7:18 left in regulation. UMES scored the next six points capped by an Ariana Seawell lay-up off a near length of the court pass from Cache' Wilson with 22 seconds left to give the Lady hawks a 48-43 lead.
 
Sheppard responded by burying a three-pointer off a Henson pass to make it 48-46 with 13 seconds left. Then with 8.1 seconds remaining, Haynes converted one of two free throws to make it 49-46 and the Lady Bears had a good chance to force overtime. However, a Henson three didn't go down. Sheppard grabbed the rebound, but her follow-up shot was released just after the final horn and the Lady Hawks poured onto the floor in celebration.
 
The Lady Bears season may not be over just yet.
 
Should top seeded Norfolk State win the Tournament, the Lady Bears have a good chance of grabbing a WNIT spot since they finished second in the team standings. So stay tuned Lady Bear faithful, there may be at least one more opportunity to see these young ladies play again coming up soon.
 
 
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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.