BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 27, 2024)--The Lady Bears fell short on Saturday afternoon at home in a close game to Beltway rival Howard in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) game at Hill Field House.
 
Morgan State, which fell to 6-13 overall, 1-3 in the MEAC, has now dropped four straight. The Bison improved to 6-12, 3-1 MEAC)
 
The Lady Bears were led by junior forward Laila Fair, who scored a season- and game-high 17 points, while pulling down eight 10 rebounds. Senior guard Sedayjha Payne finished with 10 points and added a game-high 10 rebounds to record her third double-double of the season. 
 
"I think this is me at my best," she Fair, who is starting to return to form after playing in her eighth game and seventh consecutive start this season. "I will say in the past, I've had a history of going on an upward slope and hopefully I can continue that to help the team out." 
 
After a slow first half start, Morgan closed out the second period on a 4-0 run to pull within 26-23 at the intermission.
 
"I don't really think it was a momentum thing," said Morgan State head coach Ed Davis. "It was more so, people were very indecisive to shoot the basketball. People were indecisive to play at a higher level. which we haven't been doing all year." 
 
At the start of the season Coach Davis talked about defense being an area that the team needed the most work on.
 
"Yeah, I mean defensively, we got 32 rebounds, that's a lot. But if you ask about team defense, the answer is no. If you look at our team from the past, defensively, we were aggressive" stated Davis."
 
Collectively, the Bears grabbed a total of 53 rebounds with 21 offensive rebounds. [Defensive] rebounding played a major role in the game. "I had seven, Laila had five and we were able to stop them [Howard] from getting second chances," said Payne.
 
Tyana Walker knocked down a trey with 6:10 left in the third to put the guests ahead 37-28. The Lady Bears responded with a 9-5 run to cut the deficit to 42-37 at the end of three quarters.
 
A 5-0 spurt by Howard to start the fourth, was capped off by a three-pointer by Walker to put the guests up 47-39 with 6:50 to play.
 
Morgan used an 8-0 run to even the score at 47 all, before a jumper by Miller gave Howard a 49-47 advantage. Two free throws by Fair tied the game at 49, but the Bison would get back-to-back baskets from Nile Miller and Walker to increase their lead to 53-51 with 22 seconds remaining.
 
A layup by Fair cut the deficit in half before Iyanna Warren split a pair of free throws to make it a 54-51 score with five seconds left.  
 
Howard was led by Warren, who despite shooting 1-for-11, connected on 10-of-12 at the free throw line to finish with 12 points. Miller totaled a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Walker added 10 points.
 
The Bison had 13 steals with Miller and Kaniyah Harris leading the way with a game-high four thefts each.
 
The Lady Bears are back on the court on Monday, Jan. 29, as they travel to Norfolk, Va. to face defending MEAC regular season and tournament champion Norfolk State. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. at Echols Hall.