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Jan. 14, 2008
ORANGEBURG, S.C. - A poor shooting first half by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Lady Hawks proved costly in a 65-62 loss to South Carolina State University (SCSU) on Monday night in the S-H-M Memorial Center. Casey Morton (Mardela Springs, Md./Mardela H.S.) had a chance to tie the game as time expired but her three-point attempt missed, giving the Lady Hawks their first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) loss of the season. After trailing 32-17 at the break, UMES (7-7, 0-1 MEAC) would trim the lead to 36-28 behind back-to-back three-pointers from Morton. Following a SCSU (4-9, 1-1 MEAC) lay-in by Jenell Moore to make it 41-33, the Lady Hawks would respond once again but this time behind back-to-back three-pointers from Tiffany Reid (Philadelphia, Pa./National Christian Academy) and capped off by an April McBride (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle H.S.) lay-in that tied it at 41 all with 9:44 to go. UMES would take a 46-47 lead with 6:49 left in the game on a pair of Morton free-throws. In a half that featured six lead changes and five ties, both teams would exchange several leads over the final six minutes of regulation. A Sophilia Hipps free-throw with 45 seconds left gave the Lady Bulldogs a 59-58 advantage but both sides would trade four sets of free-throws that ended with a pair of Moore free-throws that sealed the win for SCSU. McBride was one of three UMES players in double figures as she led all scorers with a career-high 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting, while Morton and Reid added 17 and 13 respectively. Reid had a team-high four steals. The Lady Bulldogs matched UMES with three players in double figures and were led by Hipps with 20 points. Moore had a double-double finishing with 15 points and 13 rebounds, including going a perfect four-of-four from the field and seven-of-eight from the free-throw line. Patience Figgins finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.
The Lady Hawks came out red-hot in the second half shooting 57.7 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range after only connecting on 25 percent from the floor and going zero-for-nine from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes. Meanwhile, SCSU shot a respectable 44.7 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from three-point range for the game, including four-of-six in the first half, however; the UMES defense would limit their second half three-point shooting to just one-of-eight. In the end, UMES was outrebounded by the Lady Bulldogs, 37-30, but had fewer turnovers, 16-13, and more points off them, 15-12. UMES will now return home to the William P. Hytche Athletic Center for a two game stand starting with North Carolina A&T on Saturday, January 19. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 E.T. and can be heard on WTGM-AM 960 The Team or live on the internet at www.umeshawks.com. |
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