Dec. 3, 2005
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The Game
A week after nearly upsetting #18 Temple, the UMES Lady Hawks (1-2) hit the road for a Tuesday night match-up against Big Ten opponent Michigan at Crisler Arena. UMES, which finally succumbed to Temple 60-53 last Tuesday after splitting a pair of games at the Lancer Invitational to open the season, has been picked to finish fifth in the preseason MEAC poll.
The game will serve as a homecoming for a couple of Lady Hawks, including preseason MEAC first-teamer Kristi Veltkamp (Hudsonville, Mi.). Michigan, which last played Saturday against Maine, is concluding a five-game home stand. The Wolverines have also played Temple this season, falling to the Owls 65-48 Nov. 11 at a tournament in Eugene, Oregon.
Great Expectations
Under the direction of second-year Head Coach Fred Batchelor, the Lady Hawks have begun one of their most anticipated seasons in years. UMES has returned its top three scorers and rebounders from 2004-05 in addition to adding several talented pieces to the mix.
The Lady Hawks are led up front by Kristi Veltkamp and Jamila Griffith, first and second-team preseason All-MEAC selections. Two-time JUCO national champion Natalia Benton joins them to form one of the MEAC's biggest front lines. Without a single point guard returning from last season, UMES will have new faces running the offense. Freshman DeVaughn Hailey and senior Rachael Goodwin, who has played only one full collegiate season, make up the starting backcourt.
News and Notes
Sophomore Kristi Veltkamp has lived up to her billing as a Preseason MEAC First Team selection. She currently leads the Lady Hawks in scoring and rebounding, and has scored in double figures in all three of the team's games.
UMES got career highs in scoring from Toni Kennedy (24 pts) and Jamila Griffith (19) in its first win of the season against Gardner-Webb Nov. 19...
The Lady Hawks 10-8 conference record last season gave the team its first winning MEAC season since 1997-'98 (12-6), a span of seven seasons...
UMES placed two women on the preseason All-MEAC teams: sophomore F/C Kristi Veltkamp on the first team and senior F Jamila Griffith on the second team. Veltkamp finished second on the team in scoring and rebounding during her freshman campaign, while Griffith led the team in rebounds per game last season...
The last time the Lady Hawks were above the .500 mark came two seasons ago (`03-'04) when the team started 2-1...
The Lady Hawks did not return any of last season's point guards, following the departures of Erica Bennett (graduation), Ashley Chase (transferring) and Kolade Aderoju (transferred). In their stead, freshman DeVaughn Hailey and senior Rachael Goodwin are the key figures being asked to run the offense...
UMES HAWKS AT A GLANCE
Probable Starters
Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG
11 DeVaughn Hailey G 5'5 Fr. 10.0 2.7
Freshman from Camden, NJ...Played at Woodrow Wilson HS, where she started for four seasons...Helped team win the South Jersey championship and the New Jersey Group III Tournament of Champions Final in 2005.
00 Rachael Goodwin G 5'6 Sr. 2.3 3.0
Senior from Memphis, Tn....Played 1 1/2 seasons (2002-03, part of 2003-04) at UMES before sitting out last season, re-joined squad this summer...Played in a total of 35 games prior to `05-'06 (5.7 ppg career).
35 Jamila Griffith F 6'0 Sr. 9.0 6.7
Voted to Preseason All-MEAC Second-Team...Led team in rebounding last season (7.6 rpg), was third in scoring (8.3 ppg)...2003 transfer from Tallahassee C.C. (Tallahasee, Fl.), originally from Barbados (West Indies).
3 Kristi Veltkamp F/C 6'3 So. 16.0 7.0
Voted to Preseason All-MEAC First-Team...Sophomore from Hudsonville, Mi. finished second on the team in scoring (8.8 ppg) and rebounding (4.5 rpg) her freshman season...Won State and National Homeschool championships in 2003 along with current teammate Alicia Loxen.
23 Natalia Benton F/C 6'3 Jr. 2.0 3.0
JUCO transfer from Monroe C.C. (Rochester, NY) where she won consecutive Division II NJCAA National Championships (`04, `05) and was named to the All-Tournament Team last season...Originally from Brooklyn, NY.
Reserves
Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG
1 Brittany Adkins F 6'1 So. 3.5 1.5
Sophomore from Millsboro, De., played in 26 games freshman season...Played at Susxex Tech. HS where she made first-team all-state senior year.
2 Alicia Loxen G 5'6 Fr. 0.0 0.0
Red-shirt freshman from Owosso, Mi. sat out last season with a knee injury...Won State and National Homeschool championships in 2003 along with current teammate Kristi Veltkamp.
12 Jasmine Speed F 5'10 Fr. -- --
Freshman from Chesterfield, Mi....Played at Anchor Bay HS.
21 Qiana Cheatham F 5'10 Jr. 3.3 1.0
Junior from Baltimore, Md. started final six games last season (11.2 ppg) after making only three starts her first 43 collegiate contests.
22 Adrienne Brown G 5'5 Fr. -- --
Walk-on from Springdale, Md....Attended prep school at The Patterson School (Lenoir, NC) in 04-05...Played at Charles H. Flowers HS (Landover).
25 Daynese Stowe C 6'2 Sr. 0.7 1.0
Senior from Philadelphia, 2004 transfer from Florida C.C. (Jacksonville, Fl.)...Played in 26 games last season, averaged 4.0 ppg and 3.3 rpg.
32 Almalika Lemon F 6'1 Jr. 0.0 1.5
JUCO transfer, played at Frank Phillips College (Borger, Tx.) in `03-'04 and at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (Miami, Ok.) in `02-'03...Did not play anywhere in `04-'05...Originally from Manhattan, NY (St. Michael Academy).
33 Toni Kennedy G 5'6 Sr. 12.3 3.7
Senior from Baltimore, Md. led Lady Hawks in scoring last season (10.0 ppg) after walking onto team...JUCO transfer from Labette C.C. (Parsons, Ks., `02-'03) and Grayson C.C. (Denison, Tx., `03-'04)...Played at Dunbar HS where she became school's all-time leading scorer (1,128 pts) and won three consecutive state championships (`00-'02).
34 Tiffany Reid G 5'9 Fr. 4.7 5.0
Freshman from Philadelphia, played at National Christian Academy (Ft. Washington, Md.) after starring at Strawberry Mansion HS in the Philly Public League...Made first-team all-Public League two consecutive seasons.
UMES Lady Hawks (1-2)
2005-06 Schedule:
Previous Games
Date Game Result
11/10 Bowie St. (Ex) W 82-49
11/18 ^at Longwood L 58-72
11/19 ^v. Gard.-Webb W 77-67
11/29 #18 Temple L 53-60
Upcoming Games
Date Game Result
12/6 at Michigan 7:00 pm
12/10 at Howard* 4:00 pm
12/17 Bucknell 7:00 pm
12/21 at St. Francis (NY) 7:00 pm
12/29 #v. Furman 5:00 pm
12/30 #v. Maryland/Cent. Conn. St. 5/7:00 p
1/4 N.C. A&T* 5:30 pm
1/7 at Hampton* 4:00 pm
1/9 at Norfolk State* 6:00 pm
1/16 Delaware State* 4:30 pm
1/21 at Fla. A&M* 2:00 pm
1/23 at Beth-Cook.* 5:30 pm
1/28 at Morgan St.* 2:00 pm
1/30 at Coppin St.* 5:30 pm
2/4 Hampton* 2:00 pm
2/6 Norfolk St.* 5:30 pm
2/13 at Delaware St* 5:30 pm
2/16 Longwood 7:00 pm
2/18 Florida A&M* 2:00 pm
2/20 Beth.-Cookman* 5:30 pm
2/25 Morgan State* 2:00 pm
2/27 Coppin State* 5:30 pm
3/1 at S. Carolina St* 5:30 pm
3/4 Howard* 2:00 pm
3/6-11 MEAC Tourney TBA
^=Lancer Invitational (Farmville, VA)
#=Terrapin Classic (College Park)
*denotes MEAC conference game
Fred Batchelor- Head Coach
Fred Batchelor is in his second season as head coach of the Lady Hawks (13-17 record). In his first, he led UMES to its first winning record in conference since 1997-'98 (10-8) and a fifth-place MEAC finish. Batchelor has a career head coaching record of 74-61 over five seasons.
Before his arrival in Princess Anne, Batchelor spent two seasons as head women's basketball coach at Elizabeth City State University (Elizabeth City, North Carolina), where he finished as high as third place in the CIAA. Prior to that, he served two seasons as head women's basketball coach at Buffalo State College. There, he guided the Bengals to a SUNY Athletic Conference regular season championship and a Division III NCAA Tournament appearance in his final season (2001-`02), when he was named SUNYAC Coach of the Year.
Batchelor has also served as an assistant coach for both the men's and women's basketball teams at Buffalo State, a men's assistant coach at the University of Buffalo, men's head coach and Athletic Director at Villa Maria Junior College and men's head coach at his alma mater Valley Forge Christian College.
Batchelor graduated from Valley Forge Christian College in 1988.
Assistant Coaches
Revonda Whitley- Assistant Coach
Revonda Whitley, a second-season assistant at UMES, serves as the recruiting coordinator in charge of player development, budgeting, and scheduling for the Lady Hawks. Whitley came to UMES from Elizabeth City State University, where she served in the same capacity under then-head coach Fred Batchelor.
Prior to her post at Elizabeth City, Whitley coached high school girls and AAU boys basketball in Columbia, SC. She played basketball for four seasons at her alma mater, Winthrop University from 1990-94.
Chris Massey- Assistant Coach
Chris Massey, a second-season assistant at UMES, came to Princess Anne from New York state where he made several coaching stops in the high school and collegiate ranks. He was most recently head women's basketball coach at Mt. Mercy Academy, where he complied a 49-6 overall record in two seasons.
Massey worked in the college ranks at Buffalo State College under then-head coach Fred Batchelor in 2001-`02. That season the Bengals won the SUNYAC regular season championship and appeared in the Division III NCAA Tournament.
Destiney Avent- Assistant Coach
Destiney Avent, the longest-tenured member of the coaching staff, is in her third season as an assistant coach. She returned to her alma mater after spending one season as the head women's basketball coach at Montgomery Community College (2002-03).
Avent played for two seasons at UMES (2000-02), and was named the team MVP in 2002. Before her time in Princess Anne, Avent played two seasons at Tallahassee Community College.
MEAC 2005-06 Preseason Predicted Order of Finish
Rk School Points
1. *Coppin St. (10) 388
2. Hampton (7) 373
3. Howard (2) 290
4. Delaware St. 282
5. UMES (1) 277
6. Norfolk St. 216
7. Florida A&M 214
8.N Carolina A&T 156
9. S. Carolina State 126
10. Beth.-Cookman 94
11. Morgan State 24
(first-place votes in parenthesis)
*2005 regular season and MEAC Tournament champion
Preseason MEAC First Team
G Katie Clark, Bethune-Cook.
G Sherrie Tucker, Coppin St.
G Rachel Butler, Hampton
G Shareka Glover, N.C. A&T
F Kristi Veltkamp, UMES
Second Team
G Rashida Suber, Coppin St.
G Raquel Collier, Delaware St.
F Jamila Griffith, UMES
F Melaney Denson, S.C. St.
C Najmah Fauntleroy, Delaware St.
Preseason Player of the Year:
Sherrie Tucker, Coppin St.
-Selected in a vote by MEAC coaches and Sports Information Directors
