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Feb. 12, 2007
Dover, Del. - Ball control was the name of the game and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) didn't seem well versed in the rules, turning the ball over 21 times and making bad passes and mishandling rebounds in a game where Delaware State University (DSU) would score 23 points off of miscues to win 65-51 and split the season series. "We didn't pass well," said Head Coach Fred Batchelor. "We had no ball fakes, we couldn't take the ball back from them, we couldn't shoot free throws. You have to be prepared to play your opponent and we were not," he added. DSU (13-11, 8-5 MEAC) got a critical win in a battle for a top five seed in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament coming up in a few weeks. UMES fell to 6-6 in league play and 10-14 overall. April McBride turned in a solid outing for the Lady Hawks with 16 points and a game high eight rebounds. Candyce Jeter chipped in with 13 points including three big three pointers in the second half to keep the game within reach. UMES won the boarding battle, 40-37. The Lady Hornets had five players in double figures as Ashlee Burbage tied McBride for the game high with 16. Jameka Smith, Katreem Palmer, Raquel Collier and Sleena Galloway had 13, 12, 11 and 10 points respectively. Jeter got the game scoring going with a lay-in just 14 seconds in. that was UMES' only lead. From there DSU would lead by as many as 16 in the first frame and 14 at the break, 37-23. The Lady Hawks rebounded in the second half cutting the lead to eight with just over nine minutes to play. That came on the second in a row of Jeter's three-pointers. Galloway responded with a lay-in to push it back to ten, 52-42. UMES was within nine three more times, once at the 4:45 mark and lastly with 1:20 to play. From there a Smith free throw and four Burbage throws pushed the lead back to 65-51, the final margin.
UMES shot just under 40 percent from the field and the stellar DSU defense tallied six blocks. "They are a very aggressive team," said Batchelor. "Their guards are defensive minded." The Lady Hawks now trek to Florida this weekend to take on Florida A & M on Saturday and Bethune-Cookman on Monday looking for two much needed wins. |
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