Jan. 28, 2008
Box Score
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Lady Hawks used a balanced attack to cruise past Bethune-Cookman University (BC-U) 77-51 on Monday in Moore Gymnasium.
"I thought we did a lot of things well tonight and had great production from our bench," said Head Coach Fred Batchelor. "I am very proud of the way we played defensively and I thought our offensive play was solid."
UMES (10-8, 3-2 MEAC) had 11 different players score in the game, all but one, and outscored the Wildcats bench 38-13.
BC-U (3-15, 0-7 MEAC) held a brief 3-2 lead on a Demetria Frank lay-in, but the Lady Hawks would soon respond with four consecutive shots from downtown to take a 16-8 advantage, one they would not relinquish, with 11:23 remaining in first half.
A Jasmine Daniels lay-up with four seconds left would make it 41-19 After a Kristi Veltkamp (Hudsonville, Mich./Lansing Home School) three point play, the Wildcats Jasmine Daniels would score on a lay-up to cut the lead to 41-19 going into the break.
The Lady Hawks shot an impressive 50 percent from both the field and three-point range in the first half, while limiting the Wildcats to 30.4 percent from the floor and only 12.5 percent from beyond the arc.
Jelila Abdul-Bassit (Anchorage, Alaska/Monroe C.C.) would give UMES a 61-30 lead, their biggest of the game, on one of her four three-pointers with 9:22 left in the game. Abdule-Bassit finished tied for a game-high 14 point on five-of-seven shooting from the field.
Casey Morton (Mardela Springs, Md./Mardela H.S.) and April McBride (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle H.S.) , two of three Lady Hawks to finish in double figures, added 13 and 11 respectively.
BC-U had only one player finish in double figures, Frank, who scored 14 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the free-throw line, while Natasha Ferguson had a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with seven points.
Overall, UMES outrebounded BC-U, 43-31, outscored them in the paint, 24-18, and had eight more assists, 17-9.
The Lady Hawk defense held the Wildcats offensive players in check for majority of the night as they would only convert on 31.3 percent from the field and 7.1 percent (1-of-14) from downtown.
"I think this is a positive step for our team to come down to Florida and take two wins back home with us," said Batchelor. "I think we are really starting to come together as a team."
UMES will now head to Baltimore for a pair of games starting with Morgan State on Saturday, February 2. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 E.T. and can be heard on WTGM-AM 960 The Team or live on the internet at www.umeshawks.com.
