Box Score BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 4, 2025)--Morgan State redshirt sophomore transfer Naya Ojukwu, made her highly anticipated season debut for the Lady Bears on Saturday afternoon at Hill Field House and she did not disappoint.
 
Despite afterwards admitting she was a little nervous, the Idaho native showed no signs as she stepped to the free throw line with 20 seconds remaining in the game and calmly knocked down to free throws, which would give the Lady Bears a 55-54 come-from-behind victory over visiting South Carolina State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference season opener for both teams.
 
Ojukwu, who first checked into the game with 46.8 seconds left in the first quarter, finished the contest scoring a team-high 13 points, all in the fourth quarter. She shot 4-of-8 from the floor and connected on 5-of-6 from the free throw line, while grabbing three rebounds and recording a block in 14 minutes of play.
 
Sophomore Tamaria Rumph, also finished with a team-high 13 points, pulled down six rebounds to go with her game-high four assists and game-high four steals. Senior Laila Fair fell short of a double-double, as she finished with nine points and a game-high eight rebounds to go with a block and an assist. Jael Butler added seven points, four rebounds and had a game-high two blocks in the win.  
 
Morgan State (8-8, 1-0 MEAC), which already matched its win total (8-22) from a season ago, remained unbeaten at home this season with the victory, as it improved to 6-0 inside Hill Field House.
 
Meanwhile, South Carolina State (1-16, 0-1 MEAC) dropped its 15^th consecutive game and has now lost 13 straight to Morgan State.
 
The Lady Bears had their hands full trying to contain South Carolina State's Angie Juste-Jean, who finished with a game-high 25 points. Juste-Jean shot 8-of-20 from the floor, including 3-for-5 from three-point range and connected on all six of her free throw attempts. She would also record seven rebounds and two steals in the loss. Fellow Lady Bulldog Justice Tramble recorded nine points, grabbed seven rebounds and tallied a game-high two blocked shots.
 
South Carolina State held a 22-20 lead at the break and maintained a six-point advantage (39-33) after three periods of play.
 
The hosts used a quick mini 4-0 run to start the fourth period with Ojukwu scoring her first Morgan State points on a layup and Rumph followed with fastbreak layup to bring Morgan within 39-37 with 9:22 left in the game.
 
That's when Juste-Jean went back to work, hitting back-to-back three-pointers to put the guests ahead, 45-39 with 7:11 to play. Heaven Harper later scored on a layup and hit the free throw to complete the three-point play and give the Lady Bulldogs their largest lead of the day at 48-39 with 5:22 left in the game.
 
Morgan State began to chip away at the nine-point deficit, scoring five straight points to trigger a 12-2 spurt, capped off by a layup from Rumph with 1:25 to play. Juste-Jean later connected on two free throws to put the guests ahead 54-51 with 47 seconds remaining.
 
That would be S.C. State's last lead of the game, as Ojukwu would close out the game hitting four straight free throws for Morgan State. Ojukwu knocked down the first pair at the 39 second mark to cut the Lady Bulldogs lead to 54-53.
 
The Lady Bears then forced a turnover out of Juste-Jean when Nia Green stole the ball. Ojukwu would get fouled on an offensive rebound with 20 seconds remaining to send her to the free throw line for her game winning free throw attempts.  
 
Morgan State will conclude its mini three-game homestand on Monday, Jan. 6, when it welcomes North Carolina Central to Hill Field House for a MEAC contest at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN+. The Eagles (2-13, 0-1 MEAC) are coming off a 69-66 road loss on Saturday at Coppin State.
 

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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.