BLACKSBURG, Virginia — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore faces off with its second Atlantic Coast Conference opponent of the young season on Tuesday (Nov. 19) at 6:30 when the Hawks tangle with Virginia Tech at Cassell Coliseum.
Eastern Shore (1-3) is coming off a tough road loss at University of North Carolina Greensboro, while the 3-0 Hokies topped Liberty at home on Nov. 15.
"They are a very good transition team and when they get going it kind of snowballs," Batchelor said. "At the end of the day, we have to put the ball in the basket. I think that is the one way we limit transition is putting the ball in the basket so you can get back and be in a set defense. That is going to be a challenge for us because if we thought the defense we saw the other day was good — and it was — this defense is as good, more athletic and a little bigger."
The Hokies are averaging 85 points a game over their first three contest and have forced just 44 turnovers. They are outrebounding opponents 40-28 per game and that had helped drive the transition on opponent misses. The roster features seven player more than six feet tall, including 6-foot-2 graduate student Lydia Rivers who is averaging 10.3 rebounds per game to go with 9.3 points.
Junior guard Aisha Sheppard leads the team in scoring with 19.5 points per game, while Graduate student Taja Cole is putting up a team-high 7.3 assists.
"I looked at some of the things we did last time out," Batchelor said. "A lot of the turnovers we had were unforced turnovers, miscues and then we missed eight free throws and didn't convert when we had opportunities. We just dug a hole for ourselves. We have got to play a little better and hope that we put ourselves in positions that don't hurt us as opposed to positions that make us victims to their talent."
The Shore found success against the zone at Syracuse, but struggled against the Spartans man defense I the next game shooting just 34% from the field and struggling to find a consistent offense.
"I would expect them to be in man most of the time," Batchelor said. "They are in the ACC with Syracuse, so they saw that game and how we played with them and I'm sure they realized from watching that and our last game that you are better off playing us in man. We need to make sure we can capitalize off the opportunities that we get with our man offense. That's what we didn't get last time."
Junior guard Amanda Carney (Parlin, New Jersey) leads the Hawks in scoring with 9.8 points per game. Senior guard Adrienne Jones (Baltimore, Maryland) is putting up 7.8 per game.
The Shore will be without junior forward — and second leading scorer — Bairesha Gill-Miles (Lexington, Kentucky), who suffered a first half injury at UNCG and did not return for the second half. The timetable for her return is unknown. Already shorthanded up front with freshman forward Mahogany Lester (Virginia Beach, Virginia) having been out since the season opener, the Hawks face a tough inside battle against a big Hokies front line.
Senior Chioma Nkpuechina (Anambra, Nigeria) is expected to start in Gill-Miles' absence. She'll play up front with senior Ksenia Popovich (Moscow, Russia).
"We'll go with size, experience and physicality with Chioma," Batchelor said. "That hurts us, because it limits our scoring, so we have got to get really good guard play. I thought the guard play hurt us at UNCG and I think what will make a difference today is having effective guard play. I thought we had that at Syracuse and we need to have it on both sides of the floor. If we can get that, I think it gives us a chance to compete."
Following the game, The Shore will have a few days before hitting the road again to play East Carolina University on Saturday (Nov. 23) at 2 p.m. A short holiday break will follow and the team will play against home on Dec. 3 against Greensboro College at 6 p.m.
