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Jan. 29, 2005
Greensboro, N.C. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Lady Hawks traveled into the winter weather to take on the Lady Aggies of North Carolina A & T State University (NCAT) and came out with a well-deserved overtime win, 85-75. What won the overtime contest was the all out play of the Lady Hawks who outscored the Lady Aggies 14-4 on the play of the three true Lady Hawk freshmen who combined for 22 points, 18 rebounds and a load of hustle to spark UMES (6-11, 5-4 MEAC). Of course the usual cast of characters stepped up as Toni Kennedy netted 21 points, a career high, on 5-7 shooting behind the arc and recorded three steals. Jamila Griffith was no slouch on the stat sheet either grabbing or scoring her way to a double double with ten rebounds and 12 points. While senior Erica Bennett missed another game with an ankle injury sophomore Ashley Chase scored a career high 20 points and dished out six assists while running the point. The turnover bug still plagued the Lady Hawks as they made a whopping 30. UMES forced 24 on the Aggies but made up the difference on the boards, outrebounding NCAT (4-13, 3-5 MEAC) 47-24 taking advantage of their height. Kolade Aderoju was the benefit of many of those Aggie turnovers, recording a career high four steals. After Daynese Stowe got the opening basket at 18:44 the Lady Hawks took two bad shots and turned the ball over to allow the Lady Aggies to take a 6-2 lead. UMES came roaring back. Baskets by Chase and Kristi Veltkamp gave the Lady Hawks an 8-6 advantage.
It was a battle of the three-point shooters in Greensboro as Kennedy, Chase, and Qiana Cheatham took on NCAT's Yanumbe Sherman and Mia Glover. Chase connected on a three pointer at 11:50 in the first half to make it a 14-16 game in favor of the Aggies. Just 44 seconds later Sherman hit another three-pointer as the lead grew to 19-14. Both teams would go cold for a moment but Kennedy would connect from downtown at the 9:30 mark to make it 19-17 Aggies. A little under two minutes later a foul call on Candyce Jeter would get a reaction from the Lady Hawk bench and put Glover on the line where she sunk a pair of free throws. Sherman would add on to that with a three-pointer at 7:48 and North Carolina A & T was up 24-19. Then UMES would pick up the defense. NCAT was held scoreless for over four minutes and the Hawks would chip into the lead. A Cheatham trey at the 6:35 mark cut the lead to two. Aderoju hustled back on defense to strip the ball and break to the other end where she was fouled by Renee Porter. Aderoju would make one of two and the Aggie lead was one. She wasn't done. Aderoju would run the break recording an offensive rebound and then be on the receiving end of a bullet pass from Chase for a lay-in. UMES took a 25-24 advantage. At the 3:37 mark the Aggies would score again and Sherman was the one responsible with another three-pointer. She would follow with a pair of free throws and the Aggies were up four. After a Griffith put back and another Kennedy three ball UMES was up 30-29. Kimberly Jordan, fresh off the bench came in to hit a jumper and give them back a one point lead. Chase's runner in the lane was the sew-saw in favor of the Hawks with just over a minute to go. A & T answered with another Sherman three-pointer and they were up two. Kennedy answered back. Her jumper from the wing gave the Hawks the 34-34 tie. Tia Richardson would get a put-back with 20 seconds left but Kennedy would answer again for her third three-pointer of the half. The Lady Hawks appeared to have a 37-26 half time lead but a quick shot in the lane on an in-bounds pass by Richardson gave NCAT the 38-37 half-time lead. The Aggies came out on fire in the second half going on a 12-3 run to take a 50-40 lead at the 15:30 mark. Head Coach Fred Batchelor had seen enough as he inserted three true freshmen into the line-up. Aderoju, Veltkamp, and Adkins were playing as Kennedy was on the bench with three fouls. Those three, along with Griffith and Chase sparked a Lady Hawks comeback. UMES went on a 22-12 run to tie the game at 62 with just five minutes to play. During that stretch Chase dropped six points including a three and Aderoju added five. Adkins, Kennedy, and Veltkamp all aided in the comeback. Malea Gibson got the Lady Aggies their first bucket in over two minutes at the 4:30 mark to give them a two point advantage. After that the UMES guard play took over as Kennedy connected from downtown on a feed from Chase; all sparked by a Veltkamp steal. Aderoju scored again but A & T answered with a five straight free throws. During that period UMES got another three from Kennedy, her fifth of the game. During the final minutes of play the Hawks got a bucket from Stowe to give them a 71-67 lead with just over a minute to play. With only 20 seconds to play Glover hit a runner in the lane. That with two Renee Porter free throws would tie it up. The Hawks missed their last chance but with just six seconds to play Aggies Head Coach Saudia Roundtree called a timeout despite a streaking Lady Aggie. A & T set up for a final shot with an inbound in the backcourt but could not convert and the game was overtime bound. Head Coach Fred Batchelor started the overtime dance with who brought him, the three freshmen, Aderoju, Adkins and Veltkamp, who were joined by Kennedy and Griffith. The Lady Hawks got the opening tip and bucket on a lay-up by who else, freshman Kolade Aderoju at the 4:32 mark. About two minutes later fellow freshman Adkins got another lay-up on a pass from Aderoju and the Hawks were up four. Glover answered for the Lady Aggies to cut it to 75-73. The rest was all UMES. Griffith got a put-back at the 1:49 mark and Kennedy hit a floater just 22 seconds later. Following an Aggies time-out Chase drove to the basket and nailed it. Ten seconds later she was fouled after a Hawk defensive board and made both free-throws, her career high 22nd and 23rd points. Adkins made her fifth point of the game on another throw with 19 seconds remaining and Aderoju scored her career high 12th point on the final three-throw, it was the Hawk's 14th overtime point. Sherman added a late bucket but it made no difference as UMES held the Aggies to just four overtime points and got an 85-75 win. UMES returns home on Monday to take on South Carolina State at 5:30 PM. |
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