PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore took care of business on Saturday (Nov. 17) at the William P. Hytche Athletic Center — finishing off Division II Cheyney University 88-39, but in the process played every player on the roster at least nine minutes.

"We got a lot of good minutes for a lot of kids and that was a tribute to the starters doing what they needed to do out there," head coach Fred Batchelor said. "I talked to them at halftime about how they needed to take over the game and they needed to put it out of reach in the first five minutes of the third quarter so we could play some kids who have been working for months and don't get an opportunity to play as much as they would like."

The Hawks (1-4) got out early, but struggled to maintain offensive continuity when the coaches went to the bench in the first quarter. They led 29-15 after one and 49-27 at the half.

"I thought we executed well," Batchelor said. "I thought the kids did a good job of getting better today. That is what we wanted to focus on. It wasn't really about your opponent as much as it is about trying to improve every day and I thought the kids really did some things today that helped us improve.

"Games like this, we are expected to win, but I think it is how you win the game and how you play the game. For us not to have to do anything like press or trap and just play solid basketball and work on our principles gives us a good win.

After the break Hawks starters set the pace and the team, outscored the Wolves 24-3 in that third quarter allowing the bench to finish out the game form there.

"That is a pretty good third quarter," Batchelor said. "I don't know if we'll see that too often, but I'll take it and wouldn't want to be on the other end of it. Again the starters really came out and set the tone. They put their foot on their throats and I thought that was made the game flow the way it did and gave us a chance to get to see other kids who are going to be able to help us the rest of the year."

Bairesha Gill-Miles (Lexington, Kentucky) led the way for the Hawks with 14 points and 10 rebounds. It was her first double-double of the season. Senior Keyera Eaton (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) added 11 points while Ksenia Popovich (Moscow, Russia) and Dominique Walker (Bel Air, Maryland) chipped in 10 apiece.

The Shore will next host Regent University on Tuesday (Nov. 20) at 6 p.m.