Jan. 4, 2010
Box Score
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senior April McBride (New Rochelle, N.Y.) scored a team-high 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds but the University of Maryland Eastern Shore women's basketball team's comeback effort fell short as American topped the Lady Hawks, 57-46, at Bender Arena Monday.
UMES (2-6) got to within one at 41-40 with 6:12 to play on a fast-break layup by Bria Jackson (Rochester, N.Y.) but never got any closer the rest of the way. The loss for the Hawks is their second straight while the win for the Eagles (7-7) snapped a two-game slide.
Michelle Kirk led three AU players in double figures with 19 points on 5-of-12 shooting. Liz Leer and Ashley Yencho chipped in with 12 and 11, respectively. For UMES, Chelsea Sanders (Rochester, N.Y.) had nine points and six boards and Casey Morton (Mardela Springs, Md.) also had nine and five assists.
UMES, which was outshot, 39.6-33.3 percent for the game, trailed 25-18 at the break but was able to slice the deficit to three at 28-25 with just over two minutes gone in the half on an Amber Cook (Greensboro, N.C.) layup. American, though, scored the next five straight points to restore an eight-point advantage. The AU run was punctuated by a Yencho three-point play at the 16:50 mark.
The Eagles' lead grew to 41-31 with 12:58 on an Ebony Edwards 3-pointer but UMES didn't quit, engineering a 9-0 run highlighted by three points apiece from McBride and Morton.
American tallied the first seven points of the game over 2:26, before UMES cut the margin to 9-7 with the help of back-to-back hoops in the paint by Chena Parker (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.). AU put together another extended run to build its advantage back up to 11 at 19-8 with 8:33 left in the half on a Kirk three-point play.
The Lady Hawks got as close as five points before the half was over on a Sanders jumper.
UMES held advantages in rebounding (35-34), bench scoring (7-4) and fast-break points (8-2)
UMES continues on the road at North Carolina Central Thursday, Jan. 7, at 6 p.m.
