In their first home contest since January 19, the Morgan State Lady Bears struggled to find their rhythm when they needed it most against the visiting Lady Tigers of Savannah State University.

The Lady Bears were down by two points at halftime, but the intermission only hurt them as the Lady Tigers took a double digit lead midway through the second half two win 72-58.

“If we win this, we’re close to second or third,” said assistant coach Ed Davis, who was filling in for head coach, Donald Beasley, who is recovering from an injury. Instead, the Lady Bears fell to seventh place in the conference standings.

With only one senior and two juniors on the team, Davis noticed the lack of close game experience from his players. “The pressure of winning this game, I saw in their faces, maybe the youngness began to show.”

Savannah State opened the game with a 14-4 run, capitalizing on the constant flow of missed shots from Morgan State, who shot under 30 percent in the game. The Lady Bears responded with their own run to come within four points and, near the end of the half, had a handful of opportunities to take a lead or at least tie the game.

Their second half showing, however, was a lot more flat and marred with costly turnovers, including two consecutive unforced turnovers off of inbound passes by freshman guard, Braennan Farrar, when there was still a chance for the Lady Bears to make a comeback.

“BB [Farrar] was struggling,” said Davis of the freshman, who more than doubled her season average with nine turnovers in the game.

With the loss, the Lady Bears fall to 8-13, 5-4 in MEAC competition. Their next game will be at home on February 9, against South Carolina State University.

“They gotta step up on Monday to try to win that one and get back up in the standings where we want to be,” said Davis.

*Photo Credit: MSU Athletic Media Relations