RICHMOND, Virginia — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore weathered a 16-0 third-quarter run by Richmond on Wednesday (Nov. 14) night — while going 0-for-9 from the field during the stretch — to hold a four point lead (53-49) with 36 second left.

But an 8-3 Spiders run in those 36 seconds finished the Hawks with a 57-55 loss.

"The third quarter continues to be a problem for us," head coach Fred Batchelor said. "It seems to be the spot where we have the most breakdowns. That is something we have to address and look at. Throughout the game, you are going to have times where you are playing well and times where you are not playing as well. I think we are letting our ineffective play lead to further breakdown — mental breakdowns, defensive breakdowns. A lot of that is a mental strength that we have to show for 40 minutes and we haven't shown that so far this season."

Despite the terrible offensive quarter, The Shore (0-4) was still in a apposition to win after battling back. With Eastern Shore leading Richmond, a 3-pointer by Richmond sophomore leading scorer Alex Parsons cut the lead to just 53-52 and led to a Spider timeout.

"You had a kid that was taking that shot all night," Batchelor said. "She didn't shoot the ball well, but hit the biggest shot of the game. I think that when their best player stepped up and made the big play — even though she didn't have a good game — it showed why she was their leading scorer and rebounder.

"That is what we are trying to have. We are trying to get that type of play where no matter how things are going we can have someone who wants to step up and take the big shot every night. I think that is what happened in that possession."

Hawks point guard Ciani Byrom (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) was fouled after the inbound pass on the next possession and made both at the line to push the lead to 55-52. With 20 seconds, left Richmond missed a 3-pointer, but junior Jaide Hinds-Clarke grabbed the offensive rebound, got the put back and went to the line down 55-54.

She missed the free throw, but Daijia Ruffin grabbed the offensive rebound and made both free throws to put the Spiders up 56-55. Byrom's attempt in the paint was no good and Ruffin grabbed the defensive rebound and was fouled. She missed the first, made the second and the Hawks had a beat of life with four seconds left.

Byrom's 3-point attempt hit front rim as time expired.

"We were up four with 36 seconds and there were a couple things I keep going back to that put us in that situation," Batchelor said. "We lost a ball just prior to that with the chance to push the lead. We made one of two free throws on the possession prior. We just kept opening the door. I thought other than the third quarter we did that the whole game. I know we outscored them for three of four  quarters, but during that time we never really capitalized off their mistakes and their inability to put the ball in the basketball. I thought they ultimately capitalized off of ours in that third quarter."

Byrom finished with 11 points for the Hawks. Sophomore Bairesha Gill-Miles (Lexington, Kentucky) and junior Ksenia Popovich (Moscow, Russia) had 13 points and eight rebounds apiece to lead Eastern Shore. Keyera Eaton (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) chipped in 10 rebounds for The Shore.

The Hawks next will return home for games against Cheyney (Nov. 17, 2 p.m.) and Regent (Nov. 20, 6 p.m.).

"We need to take advantage of being at home," Batchelor said. "We are not playing the likes of the ACC and the Atlantic 10 on the road, but we have to grow. I'm looking for us to grow and it is not about our opponent. It's more about our mental focus and concentration for 40 minutes. We've seen some really good basketball at times from us, but we haven't seen the type of consistent basketball it is going to take to beat good teams for 40 minutes."