DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore entered its Martin Luther King Jr. Day matchup with Bethune-Cookman needing to show toughness and a defensive effort like they had in their win at Florida A&M.

The Shore (9-10, 5-1 MEAC) did just that overcoming foul trouble by two starters and holding the Wildcats (9-8, 2-3 MEAC) to just 37 percent from the field — including 20 percent in the fourth quarter — and held leading scorer Angel Golden to just eight points on the way to a 64-52 victory.

"I thought we did what we were supposed to do," Hawks head coach Fred Batchelor said. "I thought we were the better team. They are wounded and I thought we took advantage of that and we had some good play from our best player. That made the difference."

Hawks senior point guard Ciani Byrom (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) finished the game with 23 points — 17 of them coming in the second half — to go along with five rebounds, three assists and a steal.

"I think in the last five times we have played them, we lost four," Byrom said. "Getting this win is really crucial. Beating the defending MEAC champion is a great feeling."

The Hawks also got 23 points from the bench with former Harford Community College teammates Adrienne Jones (Baltimore, Maryland) and Dominique Walker (Bel Air, Maryland) scoring all of them. Additionally, freshman Taylor Clayborne (Upper Marlboro, Maryland) grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds off the bench.

"I thought we had some play off the bench that was huge," Batchelor said. "Dom, Taylor and A.J., the plays that they made that contributed to the game were huge and I think that is the only way you can be successful."

"That's just toughness," Batchelor said. "I thought we just played with toughness. It starts with Ra'Jean Martin (Jacksonville, Florida). Ra'Jean did a lot of things today to help us get that W. I know she didn't finish the game on the floor, but she did a lot. That second change shot that she got where we got a three was huge. With the energy that she gives us, I think she is our most valuable player right now. That is what she does that can't be seen. She's the toughest kid that I have ever coached."

That offensive rebound came with the Hawks leading 52-44 and seven minutes left. She was able to pull the ball down and get it back out to Byrom who's 3-pointer pushed it to 55-44.

And while the toughness built from Martin, it spread throughout the team. Batchelor was impressed with the toughness of Walker and Clayborne, who spend their 29 and 21 minutes respectively banging inside with some bigger bodies.

Sophomore Bairesha Gill-Miles (Lexington, Kentucky) played just six minutes in the first half after picking up two early fouls guarding 6-foot senior forward Chasimmie Brown. Ksenia Popovich (Moscow, Russia) also had to sit before the break leaving Walker and Clayborne to step up.

"They played tremendous roles," Byrom said. "I'm very proud of Taylor Clayborne who is just a freshman, but decided to step up and take the challenge of guarding their second leading scorer."

The Hawks were leading 33-23 at the break and Walker and Clayborne had combined for 20 minutes of court time.

But Gill-Miles left the court again less than two minutes into the third quarter, having picked up a quick foul against Brown and then a technical for her reaction to the call.

Batchelor again went to Walker who finished the game with 11 points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and three steals. Clayborne had a pair of blocks and a steal to go with the 11 boards.

Senior Keyera Eaton (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) led the Hawks in assists with five to go with a rebound and three steals.

Byrom feels like the team's improved defense has come with better communication on the court — something they didn't have in the early part of the year.

She said a recent session that the team had with motivational speaker and former Delaware State women's basketball coach and Kyle Adams (itsbiggerthamtheball.com) seemed to help in that respect.

"I just feel like the defensive trends have changed enormously after that workshop," Byrom said. "It was a good experience and I feel like it built us as a team. We started to talk more. Communication is a thing we really need to work on. As the communication built I think the defense just got better. I'm just proud of everyone. It's just about buying in and I think everyone had bought in to: if we play defense, we'll win the game."

Having now won seven of their last nine contests and standing at 5-1 in Mid-Eastern Conference play, the Hawks will next travel to the Norfolk (10-8, 5-0 MEAC) for a Saturday (Jan. 26) matchup.

"We are first going to enjoy this — coming down here to Florida and getting two wins," Batchelor said.