Corin "Tiny" Adams scored 23 of her game-high 26 points in the second half in Thursday's MEAC Quarterfinal loss to Bethune-Cookman.
Bear Shots
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (March 11, 2010)-Jamine Bugg came off the bench and scored a team-high 15 points, while Demetria Frank and Sarah Bolden added 13 and 12 points, respectively, to lead the sixth-seeded Lady Wildcats to a 63-52 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference quarterfinal win over No. 3 Morgan State on Thursday afternoon at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Bethune-Cookman (17-14), which won both meetings this season against Morgan State, pulled within 26-25 in the all-time series, while improving to 2-0 against the Lady Bears in MEAC Tournament play.
Morgan State's Corin Adams ended her collegiate career, scoring 23 of her game-high 26 points in the second half. Theresa Davis finished with a game-high 10 rebounds and added six points and two steals for Morgan State, who for the second consecutive year have been bounced in the quarterfinals after just one game.
Adams, who is currently the school's all-time scoring leader with 2,058 points, also added a game-high six steals, five rebounds, an assist and a block against the Lady Wildcats.
The Lady Wildcats, who entered the contest with a day off, following a 76-66 opening round win over No. 11 Norfolk State on Tuesday, appeared to be playing with more emotion and in another gear than Morgan State. A three-pointer by Morgan's Brittany Noel put the Lady Bears up 5-4, Bethune-Cookman went on a 23-4 spurt over the course of 12 minutes to take a commanding 27-9 lead with 6:19 left in the opening half. Bethune-Cookman held a 38-17 cushion at the intermission.
The Lady Bears (17-13) scored the first four points to start the second half, but still couldn't really get into a rhythm or flow of the game. Morgan trailed 49-31 with 8:58 to play after a layup by Bugg.
That's when Adams, the MEAC Player of the Year, began to take control. She hit a three-pointer and then scored on a layup to get the Lady Bears going. Brittany Dodson scored on a layup and Adams knocked down two free throws, before following with a three-pointer from the right corner to cap off a 12-0 run and bring the Lady Bears within 49-43 with 5:34 to play.
Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Lady Bears would get, as Bethune-Cookman responded with a 9-3 run to increase their lead to 12 points at 58-49 with 1:34 left in the contest.
Morgan State finished the game shooting 17-of-66 (25.8 percent), including 7-of-33 (21 percent) in the first half. Bethune-Cookman finished the game connecting on 19-of-56 (33.9 percent) from the field and was 2-of-11 from three-point range.
The Lady Wildcats connected on 23-of-39 (59 percent) from the free throw line, while Morgan State finished 15-of-19 (78.9 percent) from the charity line.
Bethune-Cookman will take on No. 2 Hampton on Friday, in a MEAC semifinal match-up.
BEAR CLAWS
-This is the second consecutive season that Morgan State has been eliminated from the MEAC Tournament in the quarterfinals.
-The Lady Bears finished the season 17-13, their second straight 17-win season.
-Head coach Donald Beasley fell to 0-4 all-time at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, while coaching at Morgan State when wearing a tie. Beasley's lone win in Winston-Salem, N.C. came on Jan. 18, 2010 against Winston-Salem State at the C.E. Gaines Center. Beasley didn't wear a tie in that game.
