PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore Women's basketball squad came away from Thursday's 10-Mile Tipoff with both a 60-41 victory on the court and the knowledge that they were helping the youth in the local community.

"It would have been a lot easier to play at home, but to accept the challenge of playing a Division III school on a neutral site is only going to make you better," head coach Fred Batchelor said. "I thought tonight it was good for us and the atmosphere was great. It was great to see the fans that we had to come out and support us and see us and have the opportunity to showcase to people who haven't seen us play and wouldn't make it down to Princess Anne.

"Hopefully they saw something that would want to make them continue to see what we are doing."

Proceeds from the men's and women's exhibition doubleheader versus Salisbury University will benefit a scholarship fund for players up to the sixth grade participating in the Wicomico Youth Basketball League. Scholarships will benefits young players from Wicomico, Worcester, Somerset and Dorchester Counties.

"It is really amazing," senior point guard Ciani Byrom (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) said. "Anything we can do as a team, we love giving back to the community, so for us to be playing for a bigger purpose and for the little kids or middle age kids who want to play basketball is great."

Byrom, who is also the president of the Hawks' Student Athlete Advisory Committee, led all scorers with 18 points and added nine assists, three steals a block and three rebounds in 34 minutes.

Sophomore Bairesha Gill-Miles (Lexington, Kentucky) — the 2017-18 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year — added in 12 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Keyera Eaton (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) chipped in 10 points.
On the court, head coach Fred Batchelor was pleased with the end result even if the path wasn't as smooth as it might have been.

"We didn't play great, but I thought we did some good things," head coach Fred Batchelor said. "In the first half, we forced 16 turnovers — which was big. We didn't capitalize as much as I would have liked us too.
The Hawks shot just 25 percent in the first half, but recovered in the second to shoot 41 percent after the break

"The thing I do like about what I saw was that in games like this where you have to fight through challenging play where you are not actually getting what you want, but you have to find a way to elevate," Batchelor said. "I thought that was good for us. It would be a lot easier to come in here play great and blow the team out and move on, but I thought today I saw some growth and maturity and playing though a little frustration."

Juniors Choima Nkpuechina (Anambra, Nigeria) and Ksenia Popovich (Moscow, Russia) stepped into more extensive roles than they have seen in the past combining for 38 minutes. Nkpuechina started in the post and grabbed five boards and a steal, while Popovich had 10 rebounds seven points and a steal.

"I thought that K and Chioma are two kids that we decided that we are going to have to depend on," Batchelor said. "That's the growth that they made. I thought that K played really well. I think Chioma is still in the process of not having a lot of expectations to now having the expectations and what that means. K is maybe a little more ready mentally, but still see the challenges sometimes when we start coaching her critically, because now we need her to make every play. For Chioma, it is going to be a process through the year.

"I think those two kids are going to be huge for us."

Batchelor said that he would have liked to get some more playing time for some of the players who didn't see as many minutes, but that Salisbury made enough plays to keep things interesting.

"I didn't want to mess with the rhythm because Salisbury made you stay on the floor," Batchelor said. "That is a tribute to them. They are a tough team. I have a lot of respect for that program and coach Kelly Baskow and what she is doing.

"I look forward to watching them have a lot of success this year."

The women signed autographs and greeted kids and fans during halftime of the men's game and embraced the opportunity to be ambassadors for Hawk Athletics.

"It was great having this early and it's great for the local community," Batchelor said. "We had some local girls in our locker room at the end of the game. I think this helps us build our brand in this area and extend a little bit out of Princess Anne into Salisbury."

Registration for the WYBL runs through Nov. 9. Children in grades K-8 will be eligible to participate in the league.

The WYBL will be partnering with the Jr. NBA program to incorporate playing guidelines developed by experts from the NBA and USA Basketball. This will contribute to future development and offer a first-class experience to each participant. more information regarding the WYBL can be found at https://www.wicomicorecandparks.org/programs/basketball-wicomico-youth-basketball-league-wybl