‘It’s our thing’: Bears pride selves on standout defense

When Ja’Niah Henson arrived at Morgan State after a standout basketball career at Roland Park, one of the biggest adjustments she had to make was playing defense. A lot of defense.

“It was something that I was able to grasp quickly, but it was definitely different from what I had originally learned,” she said.

Fortunately for the Bears, Henson is a self-described “fast learner.” In three seasons, she has amassed 73 steals, including a careerhigh 30 last winter that helped stamp Morgan State as one of the most prolific programs in the country in forcing steals and turnovers.

Last March, the team ended its 18-8 campaign that included an 11-3 record in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and a share of the league’s regular-season title — the first in school history — by ranking eighth among all NCAA Division I programs in forced turnovers per game (21.8) and 11th in steals per game (11.2). It’s a badge of honor of which the players are fiercely protective.

“We want to emphasize our defensive principles at all times,” said graduate student forward Taylor Addison, who compiled 33 steals. “We want to make sure everyone is involved and that it’s a team effort and that we’re getting the stops on defense because giving up 90 points is not a good look for us as a defensive team.”

Through two games so far, the Bears have amassed 28 steals and forced 56 turnovers. In a 59-50 win against Loyola Maryland on Thursday night at Hill Field House in Baltimore, they stole the ball 14 times and induced the Greyhounds into 27 turnovers for their second 2-0 start in three years.

Morgan State is no one-hit wonder at creating takeaways. The program has ranked in the top 25 nationally in steals per game

five of the past six seasons and in the top 25 in forced turnovers per game in three of the past six.

The one consistent figure over that span is coach Edward Davis Jr. During his previous stay at Delaware State, his 2004-05 squad became the first Division I team to limit opponents to less than 50 points per game for an entire season, surrendering only 49.6. The following year, the Hornets ranked sixth nationally in defense at 53.4 points per game.

In an era of women’s basketball when many are obsessed with offense, Davis is a throwback to a generation of players and coaches that believe defense can still win championships.

“I’m just a firm believer,” he said. “I guess it’s because we’ve had success. If we didn’t have the success, I probably would be like a lot of other coaches. I still look for that offensive style of ball, but I just feel that if we can put both components together, we’ve got a better chance of creating more offense out of our defense.”

With the Bears, Davis has emphasized making opposing players feel uncomfortable. He and his coaching staff have crafted a variety of presses, traps and defenses to force turnovers or consume enough time off the shot clock to induce opponents into taking hasty shots or simply running out of time.

“It causes confusion,” said Henson, a senior guard who grew up in Baltimore. “There’s a lot of motion and a lot of things that come to playing our defenses. We have our hands all over the place, we’re going crazy on the ball, we’re just excited to play defense. So it creates a lot of commotion for them and gets them out of whack in their offensive sets. It’s definitely something that can break an offense down.”

Under Davis’ watchful eyes, Morgan State drills down on defense. Players have often practiced linked together at the waist by bands to demonstrate what areas of the floor they should be located when a teammate moves to trap a ball handler.

“We have more trapping styles and more defensive styles,” said Addison, a Columbia resident and Howard graduate who transferred from Mount St. Mary’s. “We have multiple presses that we run, and we have multiple half-court sets that we run. Here, we go man, zone, trapping, pressing. We’re throwing combo defenses at teams. So it’s kind of like teams never know what we’re going to do next.”

Davis is particularly relentless about his players keeping their hands active. During practice, they will hold towels in their hands as a visible reminder to keep their hands in the air to deflect passes or hamper a shot.

“If our hands are down or we’re lazy on close-outs, for 90% of the time, that’s baskets for the other team,” he said. “So for me, it’s definitely a plus that you have to have your hands up, close out, and be ready to not allow a lot of direct-line drives to the basket.”

Henson said the players have a self-determined goal of holding each opponent to less than 50 points per game. As lofty as that might seem, she said that is an indication of how much the players have bought into Davis’ philosophy on defense.

“I definitely think it’s our thing here at Morgan,” she said. “It makes you even more hyped when you’re on offense after you get a steal because now you’re more hyped and you’re more ready to run your offensive set. It’s definitely something that gives you leverage in a game.”

Whether the Bears can repeat last season’s success at creating turnovers and steals might depend largely on how they replace the production lost by the departures of guards Jayla Atmore (a team-high 47 steals), Adia Brisker (42) and Ashia McCalla (35). Despite that void, Addison said the bar won’t be lowered this season.

“Some of [the reserves] got to watch last year how we did things, and that kind of set a good example of what to do this year, and that’s what we’re expecting,” she said. “We’re expecting them to come out and do the same thing, do what they were taught, and so far, I think we’ve done a great job of that.”