WASHINGTON, D.C. — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore showed a lot of fight on Friday night (Nov. 9) sticking close to Georgetown in historic McDonough Arena. The Hawks (0-2) were within two points of the Hoyas — 37-35 — as late as 5:10 left in the third period before things got away from them. Georgetown pulled away for a 74-55 victory.

"I thought we played really well in spurts," head coach Fred Batchelor said. "I thought the breakdowns had a lot to do with frustration with things not going our way at times and them playing really well at times.

It all happened at the same time. They make a couple shots on good defense and we would go down and miss a couple shots then we'd break down on defense and giving up shots we shouldn't give up."

The Shore held its last lead with 1:44 to go in the first period when Brooklyn Bailey (Rock Hill, South Carolina) drilled a 3 to make it 13-10. From there, the Hoyas went on a 19-1 run and led 29-14 with 6:49 to go in the second quarter. The lead was pushed to as many as 19 points  before the Hawks cut it to 37-28 at the half.

 "I don't think we played a mentally tough 40 minutes of basketball and I thought we broke down a few times, but I thought they responded well when I challenged them in those instances," Batchelor said. "I thought we came back in the third quarter, we made some plays and things started going our way and then they started making some plays. They shot 40 percent from 3 on 25 3s when we tried to take away them getting to the basket. It kind of beats you down. I thought that was what happened and other things started to go wrong."

Senior point guard Ciani Byrom (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) started the second half off with a 3-pointer for Eastern Shore to cut the lead to 37-31 and then a pair of free throws from Bailey brought the team within four. Two at the line from Byrom cut the Georgetown lead to 37-35 with just over five minutes to go in the third. But from there the Hoyas built the advantage back until it was 10 heading into the fourth.

"I think that is where my challenge is with them," Batchelor said. "To be a championship team you have to be able to fight through that. Boxing is our theme this year and we talk a lot about fighting. Tonight I felt like the kids were like a guy who had to fight Floyd Mayweather on his good night, where as good as you were there were times he just stepped to another level. I thought they did that tonight with a couple of plays, one-on-ones and executing their offense that kind of took the wind out of our sails and we didn't respond well enough to compete with them to the next level."

Byrom led all scorers with 23 points and added nine rebounds, five assists and shot 50 percent (4-of-8) from behind the arc. Sophomore Bairesha Gill-Miles finished with nine points and eight boards. Senior Dominique Walker (Bel Air, Maryland) didn't fill up the box score with five boards and an assist, but had a big day on defense in 22 minutes including a steal and three blocks. On one sequence upon entering the game, she blocked a shot then took a charge on consecutive Hoya possessions.

"I thought we got good minutes from Dom," Batchelor said. "She is an undersized post player where when we are playing bigger schools it becomes a little bit of a challenge to overcome. But I thought she did a good job today matching up defensively with one of the best players in the league. I thought she player her one-one-one really well at times. Picking up the charge was huge and when the ball starts falling for Dom, I think Dom is a kid that can put the ball in the basket and you will see her be a very effective player for us this year."

The Shore will return home for a Nov. 11 matchup with Buffalo (5 p.m.) and then travel to the University of Richmond for a Nov. 14 matchup at 7 p.m.