Morgan State Women (10-12, 8-2 MEAC) at NSU (2-19, 2-9)
Saturday, Feb. 13 * 4 p.m.
Norfolk, Va. * Echols Hall
Game Notes  |  Live Video ($$) |  Live Stats  |  Live Audio

NORFOLK, Va. - The Spartan women's basketball team, on a two-game winning streak, returns home for four of its final five regular-season games, beginning Saturday with a matchup with Morgan State on Alumni Day. Tip-off is at 4 p.m. at Echols Hall. The Bears have won four in a row and are in a three-way tie for first place in the conference, while the Spartans have put their rough start behind them with two straight victories.

Media Coverage: The game will be broadcast live on WNSB 91.1 FM with Ross Gordon handling the play-by-play duties and Aaron Clark providing color analysis. Links to live video, stats and audio are at the top of the page.

Scouting NSU: After dropping their first 19 games of the season, NSU (2-19 overall, 2-9 MEAC) finds itself on a two-game winning streak after sweeping a road trip last week at Howard and Maryland Eastern Shore. The Spartans gutted out a 110-108, double-overtime at Howard last Saturday before a much less dramatic 74-63 victory at UMES on Monday. At UMES, Koryn Lawrence scored a season-high 21 points, Kiara Phillips added 12 and Dominique Harper tallied 11 for NSU, which held UMES to 37 percent shooting and forced 22 Hawk turnovers. NSU committed just 12 giveaways, matching their season low.

Scouting MSU: Morgan State (10-12, 8-2 MEAC) has won a season-best four games in a row following a 62-56 win at South Carolina State on Monday. The Bears - who also played a marathon game last weekend, beating Savannah State 66-60 in three OTs - got 17 points from leading scorer Braennan Farrar against SCSU and 26 in the triple-OT victory at Savannah State. MSU shot just 31.6 percent from the floor against SCSU, but made 21-of-28 (75 percent) from the free-throw line to come away with its fourth straight win. 

Farrar leads the Lady Bears with 15.2 points per game, a figure which jumps to 19.2 in MEAC games. Tykyrah Williams averages 10.1 ppg (13.1 vs. MEAC). MSU also shoot 68 percent from the charity stripe as a team, 72.9 percent in conference games.
                                                                                
All-Time Series vs. MSU: NSU leads the all-time series with Morgan State, 20-14. Morgan State beat NSU 67-58 on Dec. 5 in the teams' first meeting this year, breaking NSU's four-game winning streak in the series. Farrar scored 33 points in that game, including 20 in a fourth quarter which saw the Lady Bears outscore NSU 26-10. 

The Spartans had swept the two regular-season meetings in both 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Finding the Range: NSU has struggled with its 3-point shooting this year, ranking 12th out of 13 teams in the MEAC in 3-pointers made. Coming into last Saturday's game at Howard, the Spartans' season high for 3-pointers made was five, done twice. NSU proceeded to make 12-of-24 from long distance against the Bison, tying for the second-most made treys in a game in school history. Only the 13 made 3-pointers against S.C. State on Jan. 8, 2005, rank higher in program annals. Yazmen Hannah made a career high four treys, Kiara Phillips and Alexys Long made three apiece, and Brehanna Daniels and Koryn Lawrence made one each. NSU then hit six triples on Monday at UMES, its second-highest total of the year.

This and That: Some more notes from the win over Howard:
• The 110 points NSU scored last Saturday are its most ever against a Division I team and second-most vs. any opponent in the Spartans' D-I history. NSU scored 116 in a win over Virginia-Lynchburg on Dec. 20, 2013.
• The 218 total points are the most scored in a MEAC women's game since at least 2002-03.
• Kiara Phillips (21 points), Yazmen Hannah (20 points) and Siobhan Beslow (19 rebounds) all set career highs, while Alexys Long (nine points) tied her career high.
• Saturday marked the first time since Feb. 23, 2015 that NSU had two players score 20 points or more in the same game. Rae Corbo (28) and Kayla Roberts (20) were the last ones to do it, in a win over Delaware State.

Bench Boost: The Spartans have gotten solid play in their last three games from their bench. NSU reserves have scored 109 points in the last three outings, an average of 36.3 points per game. Dominique Harper has been a big part of that, scoring a career-high 17 points at Hampton and adding 11 in the win at UMES on Monday. Kiara Phillips scored a career-best 21 points off the bench at Howard, part of a 59-point night for the NSU reserves.