PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — Longwood University got 47 points from two players pulling away from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore 71-62 on Thursday night (Dec. 19) at the William P. Hytche Athletic Center.
"I thought one individual performance really hurt us," Hawks coach Fred Batchelor said. "A kid (Kyla McMakin) came in and got 29 points on 19 shots.
But she wasn't the only one as sophomore forward Akila Smith — who came into the contest averaging 6 points a game — went off for 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and grabbed 7 rebounds and blocked four shots.
"Smith was the one I was most concerned with because I saw on film that she would be a challenge for us," Batchelor said. "We have a challenge with athleticism in the post and on the perimeter. I thought they took advantage of that and got some things going that really hurt us. I think that was the difference in the game."
The Shore trailed just 59-57 as late as the 3:41 mark of the fourth quarter but was outscored 12-5 through the final whistle. After the game, Batchelor had a long talk with his team about moving forward.
"I talked about the want and the drive it takes for us to be successful," he said. "Now we have a new group of kids playing when it looked easy from the sidelines and it's heavy to carry. We are different than last year because the kids are different, but it takes a mindset where you have to do what you can do and that means playing as hard as possible.
"I just thought tonight we didn't play as hard as we needed to play and we allowed them to come in and beat us. I don't think they played particularly hard either. They just played better. We have to talk about winning or die trying. If we don't address that, to think that when we get into league play it is going to get easier is wrong. It's going to get tougher."
The Hawks (3-8) got 16 points from Amanda Carney (Old Bridge New Jersey) led the Hawks with 16 points including 5-of-9 from behind the arc. She added five rebounds a pair of assists and four steals.
Sophomore Brooklyn Bailey (Rock Hill, South Carolina) added 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Point guard Porsha Sydnor (Chicago, Illinois) dished out a game-high seven assists to go with seven points, two rebounds and a steal.
Freshman Mya Thomas (Chesapeake, Virginia) had a career-high seven points as the Hawks bench outscored the Lancers reserves 20-10.
Eastern Shore will next host Georgetown on Saturday (Dec. 21) at 2 p.m.
"We have our hands full with this group, but I expect them to come out on Saturday and play the best basketball game we have played all year," Batchelor said. "That is who they are. They are learning this on the job. My expectation is that they will come in tomorrow, work with a quick turnaround and we'll be ready to play on Saturday.
