Erin Hawkins finished with 13 points and a career-high eight assists on Saturday at Howard.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Feb. 21, 2009)-It was not a good day for the top teams in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, as three of the top four women's teams were all upset on the road. No. 2 Delaware State suffered a loss at Bethune-Cookman, while third-place Coppin State dropped a 23-point loss at Hampton. Morgan State, who entered Saturday in fourth-place in the league standings, also fell victim on upset Saturday, falling to Howard, 58-54, at Burr Gymnasium.
Morgan State (16-10, 8-5 MEAC) was led by Corin Adams' game-high 20 points, while Erin Hawkins added 13, but it wasn't enough, as the Lady Bears' three-game winning streak came to an end against a Howard program, which has now won 24 of the past 30 meetings against the Lady Bears.
Howard (6-19 overall, 5-7 MEAC) was led by Zykia Brown, who scored a team-high 19 points. Tamaya Daniels notched a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while Morgan Neal also added 12 points.
The Lady Bison matched their largest lead of the game at seven points (52-45) on a layup by Daniels with 7:09 left in the game. Howard could not put the game away and Morgan State used a 5-0 run to draw within 52-50 with 2:37 left.
But Brown would end a five-minute scoring drought by Howard with a huge three-pointer from the right elbow as the shot clock nearly expired, to put the hosts up by five. Adams then responded by connecting on four straight free throws to bring Morgan State within 55-54 with 1:05 left. The Lady Bison would knock down three of four free throws to secure the win.
Morgan State did not come out with any life or emotion to start the game. There were nine ties and 10 lead changes in the first half alone, as neither team could take control of the game. Morgan State seemed to have come alive when it held its largest lead of the game at 30-25 with two minutes remaining, following back-to-back three-pointers by Adams. But the Lady Bison would counter with a 5-0 run of their own, capped off by a three-pointer by Neal to even the score at 30-30 at the intermission.
Howard shot 20-of-60 (33.3 percent) from the field for the game, including 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) from three-point range, while Morgan State connected on 16-of-51 attempts (31.4 percent) and 8-for-24 (33.3 percent) from three-point range.
The Lady Bears will try to regroup when they return to action on Monday, Feb. 23, when they travel to Hampton, Va. to face Hampton in a MEAC contest on ESPNU. Tip-off is slated for 4:30 p.m. at the HU Convocation Center. Morgan State won the first meeting, 77-55, in Baltimore (1/26).
