At face value, the Morgan State women’s basketball program’s 73-55 rout of visiting Norfolk State on Thursday night avenged a 64-57 loss to the Spartans last month and gave the Bears their 10th win in their past 12 games, including four straight.
Underlying the victory before an announced 782 at Hill Field House in Baltimore, however, was a not-so-subtle message for the rest of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
“I was in tune with trying to win that game and trying to send a little message that we could play with the upper echelon of the conference,” Morgan State coach Edward Davis Jr. said. “If we really focus on team play, wins can come somewhat easy because we’re a team-based team and everybody’s got to filter in with something they do well in order for us to win.”
That sentiment was echoed by redshirt senior forward Chelsea Mitchell.
“We’re not backing down to any competition,” the Columbia resident and Atholton graduate said. “We had a couple hiccups and had to face a lot of adversity during the season. But we’re just trying to send the message that we’re better than what our record says.”
The outcome lifted the Bears (16-13, 12-4 MEAC) into a tie with the Spartans (18-11, 12-4) for second place in the league. Because they split their season series, the next tiebreaker involves their record against third-place North Carolina A&T (19-9, 11-5). Morgan State defeated the Aggies, 42-38, on Jan. 20, while Norfolk State lost to North Carolina A&T, 53-39, on Feb. 1. That means that the Bears will be the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament — their highest placement since the 2010-11 squad was also the No. 2 seed.
“It’s very important, and it’s very big,” redshirt junior forward Dahnye Redd said. “I think we needed this to boost everyone’s confidence. We’re the team, and we’re taking it all the way.”
Thursday’s game turned in the fourth quarter. Nursing a 53-47 lead through three quarters, Morgan State scored the period’s first eight points with three from Mitchell, three from sophomore shooting guard Ashia McCalla and two from Redd.
Redshirt senior shooting guard La’Deja James ended the Spartans’ scoreless drought of 4:58 with a pair of free throws, but the Bears responded with 10 unanswered points to pull away for good.
Mitchell led all scorers with 25 points — one shy of her season high — and collected five rebounds. Redd added 14 points, six rebounds and two blocks, and freshman point guard Ja’Niah Henson (Roland Park) chipped in 13 points and four assists.
As efficient as the offense was shooting 54.5% for the game, Redd was pleased that Norfolk State redshirt senior point guard Chanette Hicks was limited to 11 points — more than nine points below her season average of 20.4.
“That was our team goal,” Redd said. “She wasn’t just one person’s man. She was everyone’s man. We all had to make sure that she couldn’t do whatever she wanted to do against us.”
Spartans coach Larry Vickers credited the Bears with taking his team out of the game.
“Their intensity was on another level, a playoff level,” he said. “We came out here playing like it was an early regular-season game, and I thought they dominated us from beginning to end.”
Thursday’s victory was win No. 400 for Davis, who guided Bowie State for eight years and Delaware State for 12 before mentoring Morgan State in his fourth.
Mitchell joked that she was happy that the team helped him reach a milestone after he left Delaware State as that program’s all-time leader in coaching wins and led the school to a MEAC tournament championship and NCAA tournament appearance in 2007.
“It’s good to give him that win because he’s always talking about ‘Del State, Del State,’” she said with a laugh. “We wanted him to have something special that he can say something about Morgan instead of Del State.”
MEAC quarterfinals
Norfolk, Va.
MORGAN STATE VS. TBD
Wednesday, 2 p.m.
Streaming: FloHoops