William’s Double-Double Leads Morgan State Past FAMU

BALTIMORE, Maryland -- Last season it took the Lady Bears 29 games until they picked up their ninth and final victory of the season. A year later Morgan State has earned win No. 9 in just 15 games, as the Lady Bears held off visiting Florida A&M, 61-56 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) game on Saturday afternoon at Hill Field House.

With the win Morgan State improved to 9-6 overall on the season and 2-0 in MEAC play. It's Morgan State's first 2-0 MEAC start since 2010-11, when that squad also started out 2-0 and began 5-1 in their first six conference games. The Lady Bears also improved to 7-0 at home on the season.

Tykyrah Williams led Morgan State with a game-high 18 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to help Morgan State end a three-game losing skid to the Rattlers. Lexus Spears fell shy of a double-double, finishing with nine points and nine rebounds. Braennan Farrar tallied 13 points and added a game-high six assists and had a team-high four steals. Farrar's four steals, gave her 210 for her career and moved her past Monique Liddell (208 steals from 1996-00) for fourth-place all-time at Morgan State.

Florida A&M (3-12, 1-1 MEAC) was led by Florence Ouattara, who scored 16 of her team-high 18 points in the first half. Dy'Manee Royal finished with nine points and pulled down a team-leading 11 rebounds.

Morgan State, which never trailed in the game, had built a 31-18 lead, following back-to-back baskets by Farrar with 5:50 left in the second quarter.

That's when the visiting Rattlers went on a 15-4 spurt to close out the half and pull within, 35-33 at the intermission. Ouattara led FAMU during its run, scoring 12 of the team's 15 points. Ouattara knocked down two straight three-pointers to cut the Morgan State lead to 33-32 with 43 seconds remaining in the half.

Janessa Fauntroy scored on a basket to put the hosts up by three (35-32) with 10 seconds left, but FAMU's Dawn Smith would get fouled on a three-point attempt with .5 seconds remaining. Fortunately for Morgan State, Smith would only make the third attempt, as the Lady Bears took a 35-33 lead into the lockerroom.

The Lady Bears opened up the third quarter scoring the first seven points in the midst of a 13-2 spurt to take a 48-35 lead. The guests would not go away and closed out the quarter on a 7-1 run to pull within 49-42.

A three-pointer by Farrar to start the fourth quarter put the Lady Bears ahead by 10 points (52-42) with 8:56 left in the contest. The Rattlers would get within four points three times with the last coming at 60-56 with 39 seconds left in the game. But that would be as close as FAMU would get.

The Lady Bears shot 22-of-62 (35 percent) for the game, while FAMU connected on 19-of-55 (34 percent) from the floor. Morgan State hit 12 of their 19 free throw attempts, while the Rattlers shot 15-of-28 (53 percent) from the line.

Both teams forced 21 turnovers out of the other and totaled 10 steals. The Lady Bears held a 45-38 rebounding advantage over the Rattlers.

Morgan State will conclude its three-game homestand on Monday, Jan. 8, when they take on the Savannah State. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. at Hill Field House. Savannah State (2-10, 0-1 MEAC) was a 66-57 loser at Coppin State on Saturday.

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