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Nov. 14, 2009 Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video (Pay-Per-View)
BALTIMORE, Md. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore women’s basketball team begins the 2009-10 season at UMBC at 1 p.m. at the Retriever Activities Center Sunday. The Lady Hawks, coming off of an 82-56 exhibition win over Salisbury University Tuesday at the William P. Hytche Athletic Center, start rhe season on the road for the firth time in the last eight years. LADY HAWKS OPEN 2009-10 REGULAR SEASON AT UMBC UMES travels to UMBC and the Retriever Activites Center to begin the 2009-10 regular season Sunday at 1 p.m. The Lady Hawks have not won a season-opening game in the last seven years. Below is a look at how UMES has recently fared to start the season: •2002-03 @ Arkansas St., 81-64 •2003-04 @ Memphis, 89-63 •2004-05 @ Lafayette, 60-44 •2005-06 vs. Longwood, 72-58 •2006-07 @ St. Francis, 63-59 •2007-08 vs. Morgan State, 77-71 •2008-09 vs. Syracuse, 68-28 RECAPPING 2008 The Lady Hawks finished 2008 with an overall record of 15-14 and a MEAC mark of 10-6, good for fourth in the final standings. Senior April McBride paced the Lady Hawks in both scoring and rebounding. She ranked fifth in the MEAC in scoring (16.2) and third in rebounding (8.6). The Lady Hawks opened the season by losing six straight, but finished strong, winning five of their last seven. UMES fell to N.C. A&T, 74-56, in the MEAC Tournament semifinals. THREE IN A ROW? The Lady Hawks are hoping for their third straight winning season under head man Fred Batchelor. UMES finished 15-14 last season and went 17-13 the year prior. Since 1983-84, the Lady Hawks have never had three straight winning seasons. HAWKS RUN THE GAMUT OUT OF CONFERENCE The Lady Hawks will compete against teams from seven different conferences during their non-conference schedule. They will play UMBC (America East), Manhattan and Iona (MAAC), Long Island (NEC), Towson and Georgia State (Colonial Athletic), Tennessee Martin (Ohio Valley), Mississippi Valley State (Southwestern) and American (Patriot). According to the NCAA Conference Power Rankings last season, the MAAC (15th) received the highest ranking amongst the teams UMES will play.
FOUR NEW FACES JOIN 2009-10 SQUAD In late August, head coach Fred Batchelor announced the four newcomers joining the roster this season. Sha-Kiley Finney is a 5-foot-7 freshman point guard from Portsmouth Va. and Woodrow Wilson High School. During her stellar high school career, she accumulated over 1,000 career points. Karona Roach is a 5-foot-8 freshman combo-guard from Bear, Del. She played her high school basketball at Caravel Academy. Alicia Green, a 6-foot-4 junior transfer from Spartanburg Methodist, is expected to provide depth in the middle. The final new face is Latoya Butler, a junior transfer from Washington, D.C. and Hagerstown Community College. FIVE PLAYERS FROM THE EMPIRE STATE The 2009-10 version of the Hawks will feature five players from the state of New York. Bria Jackson (Rochester), April McBride (New Rochelle), Chena Parker (Poughkeepsie), Chelsea Sanders (New Rochelle) and Krystal Watson (Buffalo) are all from New York. Don’t forget, Head Coach Fred Batchelor coached at both the University of Buffalo and Buffalo State College. HAWKS LOSE THREE REGULAR STARTERS FROM 2008-09 The Lady Hawks will be without the services of three regular starters from a year ago: Tiffany Reid (29 starts), Jasmine Speed (29 starts) and Josephine McLane (22 starts). Reid was the third leading scorer from a year ago (9.3). She also led the Hawks in 3-pointers made with 42. Speed averaged 4.7 points per and 3.4 rebounds per night. Finally, McLane recorded 4.8 points per contest and finished third on the team in 3-pointers made with 37. PROTECTING THE HYTCHE CENTER 7 YEARS RUNNING The Hawks have managed a winning record at home the last seven years. Overall, the Hawks are 49-36 at the W.P. Hytche Athletic Center since the 2002 campaign. For comparison, the Hawks are 39-47 on the road since the 2002 season. In 2007, the Lady Hawks won nine wins at home. Since Fred Batchelor’s arrival on campus, the Lady Hawks 37- 26 at home. The Hawks won their final two games last season at home. FANS POURING OUT IN SUPPORT OF HAWKS Last season, a total of 21,932 fans came out to support the Hawks during the 12 home games this season. An average of 1,828 fans turned out per home contest, which led the MEAC conference. On Feb. 14 against North Carolina A&T, a season high of 4,124 turned out at the Hytche Center. Two years ago, 4,800 fans packed the Hytche Center when Florida A&M came home. During the 05-06 season, 5,472 fans flooded the Hytche Athletic Center. MCBRIDE NAMED TO MEAC PRESEASON FIRST TEAM Senior April McBride was named to the Preseason MEAC First Team, as voted upon by conference head coaches and sports information directors. McBride has led the Lady Hawks in scoring and rebounding in each of her three seasons at UMES. McBride was named First Team All-MEAC following her sophomore and junior seasons. HAWKS PREDICTED TO FINISH SECOND IN MEAC Conference head coaches and SIDs voted UMES second in the preseason behind predicted league-champion North Carolina A&T. The jump is a dramatic one for the Hawks, who were predicted to finish sixth in the MEAC last season. In 2007, the Hawks were picked to finish seventh in the league. YOUNG HAWKS TAKE FLIGHT The 2009-10 Lady Hawks roster features 10 underclassmen and two seniors (April McBride and Talareah Frazier).The roster includes four sophomores and six freshman.Of the three juniors, only Casey Morton saw action last season. SHE’S BACK ... Chena Parker During the 2007-08, Chena Parker appeared in 28 games and started 17 for the Lady Hawks. Last season she transferred to Monroe Community College, where she played in 21 games and started 11 games. Parker returns to UMES for the 2009-10 season. At Monroe CC, she averaged eight points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Her career high at UMES is 22 points against Winston-Salem State on Jan 12, 2008. BLOCKED-SHOT LEADER AGBASI Sophomore Adobi Agbasi was second in the MEAC in block shots per game last season (1.59). Agbasi led the Hawks with 43 total blocks last season. She recorded a season high six blocks against Syracuse in the opener last season. Agbasi also had five blocks twice (@ Iona, 11/29, vs. Morgan State, 3/12). MAGIC MAN RETURNS AS COACH After graduating from UMES in 2008, Richard “Magic” Ashley returns as the graduate assistant coach for the Lady Hawks in 2009-10. Magic previously worked for the team from 2006-08 as the student assistant coach and the assistant strength and conditioning coach. Following graduation last year, Magic was the top assistant coach for the William Penn High School boys varsity squad. He helped in guiding the team to the state title. CHARITY STRIP SUCCESS The Lady Hawks led the MEAC last season in free throw percentage (70.5). Tiffany Reid led the team with a shooting percentage of 84.1 from the free throw line. Amongst the returners, April McBride had the best percentage at 79.1 (third in the MEAC). Casey Morton shot 73.6 percent from the line. The Hawks made 442 total free throws last season. SCOUTING THE RETRIEVERS UMBC opened the the season with a 68-57 loss to No. 14 Virginia at the RAC Friday. Michelle Kurowski had a game-high 21 points and Meghan Colabella tallied double-double in the loss. UMBC, under the direction of eighth-year head coach Phil Stern, returns all five starters and 10 letterwinners from last season’s squad that finished fifth in America East at 14-16. The Retrievers were picked sixth in the preseason America East coaches’ poll and senior Carlee Cassidy earned preseason all-conference honors. Casey Morton IS BACK Every star needs a compliment and thats exactly what Casey Morton provides for April McBride. Morton was the second leading scorer last season, averaging 11.0 points per game. Morton appeared in all 29 games and was in the starting lineup for 28 of the contests. Morton connected on 38 3-pointers, second most on the team behind Tiffany Reid (42). Morton proved to be an excellent fascilitator, leading the Hawks with 90 assists. She also led the team in steals with 47 last season. Two years ago, during his freshman campaign, she was named the MEAC Rookie of the Year. 20 OF THE FINAL 23 GAMES IN DOUBLE FIGURES Senior April McBride scored in double-figures in 20 of the final 23 Hawks games last night. She has scored in double figures in 65 games in her three years at UMES. Casey McBride is second in career double-figure games with 35. REBOUNDING PROWESS FROM THE GUARD SPOT Casey Morton proved last season that she is one of the best rebounding guards in the MEAC conference. At 5-foot-9, Morton ranked second on the Hawks last season, averaging 3.9 per game. She totaled 113 rebounds. During the 2007-08 campaign, Morton totaled 107 rebounds (3.7). BOMBS AWAY FROM BEYOND THE ARC UMES attempted 602 3-pointers last season. For comparison, the Hawks’ opponents attempted just 307 long balls. It is interesting to note that Tiffany Reid (141) and Josephine McLane (138), who are not on the 2009-10 roster, attempted the most from beyond the arc. Casey Morton was third in attempts with 124. The Hawks opponents (.308) had a better 3-point percentage than the Hawks (.284). LAST TIME OUT Chelsea Sanders scored a game-high 23 points, 14 in the second half, and pulled down five rebounds as UMES defeated Salisbury University, 82-56, in exhibition action Tuesdday. Sanders was 9-of-16 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Casey Morton and April McBride also finished in double figures with 17 and 10, respectively as all 11 Lady Hawks to see action scored. Morton also chipped in with a game-high eight steals while the Lady Hawks forced 38 turnovers. NEXT UP FOR UMES After facing the Retrievers Sunday, UMES heads to New York for a pair of games against Manhattan (Nov. 22 at 2 p.m.) and Long Island (Nov. 24 at 5 p.m.). The Lady Hawks are 0-1 versus the Jaspers all-time, losing on Nov. 30, 1991, 78-51. UMES and LIU have squared off twice before. The Blackbirds have won both meetings (Dec. 9, 1995, 55-45, and Nov. 26, 2004, 56-49). |
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