BALTIMORE, MD –  South Carolina State's Taylor Brown recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, both game highs, but it was not enough as Morgan State had four players in double figures and a big edge on the offensive boards in handing the visiting Lady Bulldogs a 62-51 setback Saturday.

Kemoni Jenkins added nine points and six boards and Rhein Beamon eight points in the SC State loss, which dropped Coach Audra Smith's team to 7-9 overall and 0-2 in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play.

Morgan State, 4-13 and 2-1 in the MEAC, was paced by Adre'onia Coleman with 17 points and eight rebounds. Ashia McCalla added 14 points and also had eight boards, while Jihayah Chavis and Kayla Horn provided 10 points each in the victory.

The Lady Bulldogs, down by 34-19 at the half, closed the gap to four – 40-36 – during a 15-6 run which ended with eighth straight points by Brown with 1:56 left in the third. However, consecutive turnovers led to a six-point Lady Bear spree and all of a sudden SC State trailed 46-36 at the end of three.

The host got the first basket of the final period for a 48-36 edge and took its biggest lead of the game, 56-42, on a Chavis 3-pointer with 4:24 showing. The closest SC State came after that was the final margin.

"We dug a big hole early and battled back but just couldn't complete the comeback," said Smith. "We gave up far too many offensive rebounds, allowing them two and three opportunities to score. If you look at the turnovers and free throws, they are about even. They shot the ball better than we did, but the difference came on the offensive board where they had lots of second chances."

The Lady Bears enjoyed a 46-39 edge in the rebounding department, including a 21 offensive boards.

"We also needed to do a better job in executing our offense. We expected they would use a zone against us, but we didn't show enough patience in moving the ball, reversing the ball, to force them to defend longer -- 20 or so seconds instead of 10. But I'm proud of the way we came back but we just couldn't finish strong."

The Lady Bulldogs had a miserable-shooting first half in falling behind by 15 points at the break. Smith's squad connected on just 27.6 percent (8-29) of its first-half field goals, including only 4-15 (26.7 pct.) in the second quarter, when Morgan State outscored the visitors 20-10. Morgan State connected on 6-10 baskets from long range, while SC State was just 2-16, including 0-6 in the first half, from behind the arc.

The host closed the first quarter on a 7-0 run to build a 14-9 edge after one and outscored the Lady Bulldogs 20-10 in the second to build its comfortable halftime margin of 15 points.

Jenkins had five points in the opening quarter for the Lady Bulldogs but was limited to a single field goal in the second. Kyesha Lewis came off the bench for four second-quarter points for SC State.

McCalla had 10 points and Bolasingh eight for the Lady Bears in the first 20 minutes, in while Morgan State made 41.0 (13-31) percent of its attempts from the field, including 4-6 from long range. SC State was 0-6 from behind the arc in the opening half.

The Lady Bulldogs will remain in the Baltimore area for a Monday MEAC doubleheader against Coppin State, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
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