SYRACUSE, New York — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore women's basketball team begins an arduous task of facing three straight Atlantic Coast Conference foes Wednesday night (Nov. 6) when they face No. 15 Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.

The Orange (7-2) lead the ACC in six statistical categories: Assists, assists per game, blocked shots, rebounds, 3-point field goal attempts and 3-point field goals made. Their RPI is No. 7 in the nation and they faced four nationally ranked opponents in their first eight games.

"They ranked no lower than 12^th and had a close loss at Minnesota that knocked them down to 15^th," Hawks coach Fred Batchelor said. "They are probably one of the most talented team's that coach Quintin Hillsman has had there. And that is after going to the national championship game a couple years ago."

Many of the same faces returned from an Orange team that defeated the Hawks 68-45 last season as part of a four-game road trip, which included Buffalo and the Great Alaskan Shootout.

Eastern Shore trailed just 34-31 at the half, but went 3-of-13 in the third quarter and were outscored 16-6. It then managed just eight points on 4-of-15 shooting in the fourth to fall 68-45.

For the Hawks — much like last year — the pace of the game will be key to making sure it doesn't get out of hand.

"We need to pay attention to the tempo and the things that we can control," Batchelor said. "That is taking care of the basketball and making shots and keep them off the glass. Those are the four most critical things we have to take care of in order to stay on the floor with them.

"They are going to run anyway. But we don't want to create their run. They have a great point guard that gets them going. They have two kids on the wings that are shooting more than 40 percent from three and then they have a legitimate stretch four with size and they have a big kid in the middle that can finish and poses a problem."

They stretch you out with their perimeter shooting and they boast both a dominant big and a player that can get to the basket and create offense for others.

In short, the Orange don't have any real exploitable weaknesses in the starting lineup and that's what you would expect from a Top 15 team in the country.

"They have almost everything you would want to have in a team," Batchelor said. "And they pose that threat to us on their home floor, which is going to be a he challenge for us."

The Hawks are led by senior Ciani Byrom (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) and sophomore Bairesha Gill-Miles (Lexington, Kentucky). Byrom leads the Hawks in points per game (14.5), Assists per game (5.0), minutes per game (32.7) and free throw percentage (.852).

Gill-Miles — who has come on as of late — leads The Shore in rebounds per game (7.5) and shooting percentage (.587) and is second in scoring (12.3 ppg.).

The game is the first of eight on the road for the Hawks, who are still trying to find the right mix on the court.

"We haven't been playing the best basketball we are capable of playing," Batchelor said. "I have caught myself becoming very frustrated  with our season by far after losing by Buffalo at home, losing to  Richmond on the road by two and losing at Longwood (all games he thought his team should have won), but then you have to turn around and play three teams over your head a little bit along with some other team on the road.

"I just really decided that I wanted to focus on us getting better and taking this opportunity to improve and getting something out of it and putting ourselves in a position where you never know. You have to play the games and we know it is a huge challenge for us, but I think if we can focus on getting better it allows us to not just lose but learn from the tough situations that we are put in."