BALTIMORE, Md. – Morgan State’s Tykyrah Williams scored a game-high 22 points and added nine rebounds, falling just shy of a double-double, and Lexus Spears and Braennan Farrar scored 15 and 14 points respectively, as the Lady Bears picked up their first win of the season with a 79-28 non-conference victory over Washington Adventist on Thursday night at Hill Field House.
The win, which was Morgan State’s third straight in as many meetings over WAU, also marked the first for interim head coach Ed Davis at Morgan State. In typical Coach Davis fashion, Morgan State earned its victory behind its defensive play. The Lady Bears forced 21 WAU turnovers, 21 of which were steals and turned those turnovers into 33 points. The Lady Bears also set some records along the way, holding the Shock to just three points in the second quarter, as well as an opponent-low nine first half points.
Morgan State (1-1) scored the first 10 points and then used another 9-0 run to take a 19-2 first quarter lead with 3:04 left in the opening quarter. The Lady Bears would hold a 25-6 lead at the end of the quarter by holding the Shock to just 25 percent on 1-of-4 shooting.
The hosts then opened up the second quarter with an 11-0 run to increase its lead to 30 points at 36-6, following a three-pointer from Williams with 6:21 to play in the second quarter.
Washington Adventist (0-7) ended a four-minute scoreless drought by both teams, when Stephanie Pantos drained a three-pointer to make it a 36-9 game with 1:25 left in the half. Pantos’ field goal also ended a scoring drought of over 13 minutes for the Shock.
Morgan State would get one more basket by Williams to end the half and give the Lady Bears a 38-9 halftime advantage. The three-points scored by WAU in the second quarter were the lowest points output in a quarter by a Morgan State opponent since the NCAA went to the quarter system in the women’s game. The nine total points in the first half, were the lowest since Morgan State held rival Coppin State to 13 first half points on Dec. 14, 2010.
Farrar would lead all scorers at the break with nine points, while Spears and Williams added eight and seven, respectively.
Morgan State began the third quarter scoring six straight points and 11 of the first 13 points scored in the quarter to extend its lead to 49-11. After back-to-back baskets by WAU, the Lady Bears responded with seven straight points and held a 58-16 lead after three quarters.
Washington Adventist would miss its first seven shot attempts to start the fourth quarter and Morgan State took advantage by scoring 13 straight points to increase the cushion to 71-16 (55 points), its largest of the game, following two free throws by Williams with 5:10 to play.
Morgan State would finish the contest with 52 rebounds, 11 of which came from Zuri White. The Lady Bears also recorded 20 assists for the game, as Farrar led the way with a game-high eight assists.
The Shock were led by Demyra Selby, who finished with nine points, while Pantos added eight. Celia Gallego-Barea pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds and added six points in the loss.
Morgan State will head to the ‘Show Me’ State of Missouri next week to first take on Saint Louis on Nov. 23 at 2 p.m., before heading over to Kansas City, Mo., to take part in the Plaza Lights Classic on the campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City (Nov. 25-26). The Lady Bears will first meet Eastern Kentucky, before closing out the tournament against host UMKC. Both contests will be played at 3:30 p.m. CST.