PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore managed to pull out its second victory of the early season on Tuesday as they topped visiting Greensboro College 65-48.
But despite the victory, Hawks coach Fred Batchelor didn't feel much like celebrating afterward. He was left looking for answers as to the identity of his team and how to unlock its potential.
"There were not a whole lot of positives from my standpoint," Batchelor said. "That's probably one of the most bothersome wins that we have ever had. I'm just expecting more out of them. I know the injuries don't help. That takes a lot out of you and you lose arguable your best player who is not playing, but I'm just not seeing what it is going to take for us to be successful this year.
"That's not even talking about wins and losses. That's just talking about a concentrated mentally focused effort. I have to find a way to bring that out of them because right now I haven't done a good enough job of doing that."
The Shore (2-5) was tied with the Division III Pride tied at 32-32 at the break, but pulled away using an 18-3 run in the second half.
Sophomore Brooklyn Bailey (Rock Hill, South Carolina) led all scorers with a career-high 25 points on 8-of-20 shooting from the field (40%) including 6-of-13 (46%) from 3 and went 3-of-5 from free throw line.
"If not for her hitting a couple of shots, this is a nail biter," Batchelor said. "But she opened it up by hitting some buckets that gave us a little cushion."
Junior Amanda Carney (Old Bridge, New Jersey) had a tough night from the field, but was tied for the team lead in rebounding with nine to go with six points in her first start of the year. Classmate Porsha Sydnor (Chicago, Illinois) had eight points and five assists.
Junior Kenetria Redfern (Cheektowaga, New York) had a career high nine rebounds and seven points.
The Hawks were outrebounded 50-49, shot 31.5% from the field, 25.8% from behind the arc and 68.8% from the line. The team did hold the turnovers to just nine.
"I'm telling them that they need to take some responsibility, but I need to take some responsibility for the way we came out here and played tonight and how this year is going to go," Batchelor said. "We all have to hold some accountability on ourselves starting with me.
"Maybe I'm being a little hard on them, but I just expect more from them and more out of this program."
Eastern Shore will host University of Richmond on Thursday (Dec. 5) at 6 p.m.
