March 10, 2006

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The Game
The third-seeded UMES Lady Hawks (16-12, 12-6 MEAC) look to make school history in a semifinal match-up against the second-seeded Delaware St. Lady Hornets (20-8, 13-5) Friday in Raleigh, NC. With a win, Fred Batchelor's squad will become the first UMES women's basketball team to reach the MEAC championship game. The Lady Hawks, winners of 13 of 18 after a 2-7 (0-1 MEAC) start, advanced to the semi's with a hard-fought 51-41 win over #11 Bethune-Cookman Thursday, holding B-CC to three points in the final 11:31.

Beset by injuries much of the conference season, the Lady Hawks are now close to full strength following the return of senior co-captain Jamila Griffith Feb. 20. Junior Qiana Cheatham will miss her 19th straight game with a left leg fracture. Delaware St., which defeated #7 FAMU 55-44 in the quarters Wednesday, is tied for the best overall record in the MEAC with Coppin St. DSU, which holds opponents to only 54 ppg on the season, soundly defeated UMES twice in the regular season (65-51 in Princess Anne Jan. 16 and 64-45 in Dover Feb. 13).

Turning the Tide
With a 16-12 record (12-6 MEAC), the Lady Hawks have reached benchmarks for a basketball program that has lacked great success the past decade. The squad's 16 victories are the most for a UMES basketball team (men's or women's) in eight seasons (since the `97'-98 Lady Hawks went 16-11), and Fred Batchelor's squad is the first at UMES to advance to the MEAC Tournament semifinals in nine (since the `96-'97 women).

With a win Friday, the Lady Hawks will have the most victories in a season at UMES since the `91-'92 women's team (17-10, a span of 14 seasons).

The Lady Hawks are the first at hoops team at UMES in eight seasons to go at least three games above. 500 overall (the `97-'98 women were 15-9), and the first to be at or above .500 in February in eight (`97-'98 women). They are also the first UMES men's or women's team in eight seasons to reach at least five games above the .500 mark in the MEAC (`97-'98 women, 12-6).

News and Notes
The Lady Hawks are the only current MEAC member not to reach a tournament final. UMES is 0-5 in semifinal games (last time in '96-'97, L 88-63 to Howard).

Former walk-on Toni Kennedy, who was named to the All-MEAC First Team, is averaging 22.7 ppg the last three contests. She leads the conference in scoring (17.1 ppg) and steals/game (3.2), and is second in three-pointers/game (3.4, also second in the nation to B-CC's Keturah Newkirk). She won consecutive MEAC Player of the Week awards for the weeks ending Dec. 18 + 25...

Sophomore Kristi Veltkamp, the team's second-leading scorer and rebounder, was named as the conference's Defensive Player of the Year and to the All-MEAC second team. Veltkamp, who has come off the bench in ten of the last 11 games (9-2 record), leads the conference in blocks/gm (2.4, UMES leads the MEAC with 4.6 blocks/gm), and in FG pct. (51%)...

In her six games since returning from internal injuries Feb. 20, Jamila Griffith has averaged 9.3 ppg (56 pts) and 8.3 rpg (50 rebs)...

The Lady Hawks averaged 61 ppg in 14 games without Griffith this season, compared to 73 ppg in 14 games (1019 pts) with her. Overall, UMES averages 67 ppg (second MEAC).

The Lady Hawks lead the conference assists/gm (14.3) and asst/to ratio (0.69/1). They are second in 3-ptrs/gm (6.1) and FG pct. defense (38%), while standing third in FG pct. (40%), and scoring margin (+3.0)...

UMES is 10th/11 in the MEAC in team FT pct. (57%), and has shot 50% or less from the line in ten games. The team has made only 30-61 (49%) from the stripe the last three games after shooting 70% the previous four (57-81)...

Freshman Tiffany Reid, named to the MEAC All-Rookie Team, has started 19 straight games. She won three MEAC Rookie of the Week awards this season (weeks ending 12.25, 1.8 + 1.15). Daynese Stowe has started 15 straight contests at center, and is averaging 6.1 ppg (91 pts) during that stretch...

The Lady Hawks are the first UMES basketball team in 12 seasons to finish in the top three in the MEAC standings (since the `93-'94 men finished 2nd), as well as the first women's squad to do so in 14 ('91-'92 Lady Hawks, 2nd). They became the first at UMES to finish top-four in eight seasons (`97-'98 Lady Hawks).

The Lady Hawks became the first UMES basketball team to post consecutive winning MEAC seasons since `96-'97 + `97-98 (when the Lady Hawks went 11-7, then 12-6). The team's 10-8 conference mark last season gave UMES its first winning MEAC season (men or women) since then (a span of seven seasons)...

LADY HAWKS AT A GLANCE
Probable Starters
Player Pos. Ht. Cl. PPG RPG
0 Rachael Goodwin G 5'6 Sr. 5.0 3.9
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).
33 Toni Kennedy G 5'6 Sr. 17.1 2.8
Senior from Baltimore, Md. led team 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)...All-time leading scorer at Dunbar HS (1,128 pts), won three consecutive state championships (`00-'02).
34 Tiffany Reid F 5'9 Fr. 7.9 6.3
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.
35 Jamila Griffith F 6'0 Sr. 10.9 8.2
Missed 13 games (1.4- 2.18) with internal injuries suffered Dec. 30 against CCSU...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. (Tallahassee, Fl.), originally from Barbados.
25 Daynese Stowe C 6'2 Sr. 4.5 3.1
Senior from Philadelphia missed three games (12/6- 12/17) with a lower back injury...2004 transfer from Florida C.C. (Jacksonville, Fl.)...Played in 26 games last season, averaged 4.0 ppg and 3.3 rpg.

Reserves
Player Pos. Ht. Cl. PPG RPG
1 Brittany Adkins F 6'1 So. 3.1 2.9
Sophomore from Millsboro, De., played in 26 games her freshman season...Played at Sussex 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. out for rest of season with multiple meniscus tears in left knee (missed all of last season with a torn left ACL).
3 Kristi Veltkamp F/C 6'3 So. 11.8 6.6
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 for Lansing Homeschool (with teammate Alicia Loxen).
5 Almalika Lemon F 6'1 Jr. 1.1 1.3
JUCO transfer missed five games (12/30- 1/16) with a right knee injury...Played at Frank Phillips College (Borger, Tx., `03-'04) and NE Oklahoma A&M (Miami, Ok., `02-'03)...Originally from Manhattan, NY.
10 DeVaughn Hailey G 5'5 Fr. 5.5 2.9
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.
12 Jasmine Speed F 5'10 Fr. 1.2 1.1
Freshman from Chesterfield, Mi....Played at Anchor Bay HS.
*21 Qiana Cheatham F 5'10 Jr. 8.5 3.4
Junior from Baltimore, Md. out for remainder of season with lower left leg fracture suffered in practice Jan. 6...Started final six games of last season (11.2 ppg).
22 Adrienne Brown G 5'5 Fr. 0.8 0.5
Walk-on from Springdale, Md....Attended prep school at The Patterson School (Lenoir, NC) in 04-05...Played at Charles H. Flowers HS (Landover).
23 Natalia Benton F/C 6'3 Jr. 3.4 4.3
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.

*Currently Inactive due to injury

#3 UMES Lady Hawks (16-12, 12-6 MEAC)
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
12/6 at Michigan L 59-77
12/10 at Howard* L 90-93 (OT)
12/17 Bucknell L 92-93 (3 OT)
12/21 at St. Fran. (NY) W 73-66
12/29 #v. Furman L 81-86
12/30 #v. C. Conn. St. L 61-67
1/4 N.C. A&T* W 70-55
1/7 at Hampton* W 68-55
1/9 at Norfolk State* W 68-56
1/16 Delaware State* L 51-65
1/21 at Fla. A&M* L 53-65
1/23 at Beth-Cook.* W 67-60
1/28 at Morgan St.* W 58-46
1/30 at Coppin St.* L 40-61
2/4 Hampton* W 59-51
2/6 Norfolk St.* W 65-56
2/13 at Delaware St* L 45-64
2/16 Longwood W 69-60
2/18 Florida A&M* W 75-56
2/20 Beth.-Cookman* W 87-50
2/25 Morgan State* W 74-59
2/27 Coppin State* L 60-65
3/1 at S. Carolina St* W 65-58
3/4 Howard* W 97-78
3/9 vs. Beth-Cook.! W 51-41

Upcoming Games
Date Game Result
3/10 !vs. Delaware St. 2:30 pm

!MEAC Tournament contest
^=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 (current 28-28 record, 22-14 MEAC). In his first, he led UMES to its first winning record in conference since 1997-'98 (10-8) and a fifth-place MEAC finish. Entering this season Batchelor had 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