BALTIMORE, Md. (July 19, 2025)--The Morgan State women's basketball team will take part in the 2025 Discover Puerto Rico Shootout in San Juan. The Lady Bears, who will play three games over Thanksgiving week (Nov. 26-28), will face Wake Forest, Rice and Kentucky at Coliseo Guillermo Angulo Carolina.
 
"I'm super excited to be going to Puerto Rico. Can't complain," said first year Morgan State head coach Nadine Domond. "I'm excited about the competition, the level of play, the tier of teams that we are playing. And it gives us a chance to match up with some of the top teams across the country, so excited about that."
 
Morgan State opens the tournament against Wake Forest on Wednesday, Nov. 26. This will be the sixth meeting between the two programs with the Demon Deacons holding a 5-0 series lead. The Lady Bears and Wake Forest last met in Round 1 of the 2023 Postseason Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT), which the host Demon Deacons would win, 75-49 in Winston-Salem, N.C.
 
Wake Forest, which finished the 2024-25 campaign with a 9-20 overall mark and 2-16 in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), closed out the season dropping eight of its last nine contests.
 
Next up for the Lady Bears will be a Thanksgiving Day matchup against Rice in what will be the first meeting between the two programs.
 
The Owls finished 17-17 a year ago and went 7-11 in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Rice, which entered the AAC Tournament as the ninth seed, reached the title game, falling to South Florida, 69-62 to end the season.
 
Morgan State will conclude the Puerto Rico Shootout with a contest against the Wildcats of Kentucky on Friday, Nov. 28. It will be the first meeting between the two programs.
 
The Wildcats finished the 2024-25 season going 23-8 overall and 11-5 in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Kentucky, which earned a fourth seed in the NCAA Tournament, would fall at home in the second round to fifth-seeded Kansas State, 80-79 in overtime.
 
"The teams that we have lined up, it's a great opportunity for us to show where we line up with," said Domond. "Wake Forest, Rice and Kentucky are great match ups for us in a sense of learning where we're at and preparing for postseason."
 
This will be the Lady Bears' seventh trip to Puerto Rico and their first appearance in the Puerto Rico Shootout. Morgan State, which made seven appearances in the Puerto Rico Clasico, first competed in that event during the 2016-17 season and attended four straight years from 2016-20. The 2017 tournament was moved to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. due to the damage of Hurricane Maria. Morgan State did not attend during the 2020-21 campaign due to an abbreviated schedule because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
Last season Morgan State picked up a 54-41 victory over Presbyterian (12/18) in the opener of the 2024 Puerto Rico Clasico. It was the program's second all-time win in Puerto Rico.
 
 
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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.