PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore dug themselves a 12-point halftime hole on Thursday (Dec. 5) at home against the University of Richmond. Despite a much stronger second half showing and a fourth quarter run it was a deficit they were never able to overcome in a 64-52 loss.

"We were 0-for-12 from behind the arc in the first half and only have two free throws, that hurts you," Hawks coach Fred Batchelor said. "I'm complaining to the refs that we only shot two free throws in 20 minutes at home, but its more our fault than anything because we weren't attacking the basket. I thought we were hesitant going to the basket and I thought when we went to the basket a little bit, it created some more opportunities for us and some better looks from the 3-point line."

In the second half the Hawks (2-6) began to get some penetration — much of it by junior guard Porsha Sydnor (Chicago, Illinois) — and the outside shooting improved as well. The team went 5–of-9 from behind the arc in the second half including junior Amanda Carney's (Old Bridge, New Jersey) 4-of-5.

Carney finished the contest with a career-high 15 points, Brooklyn Bailey (Rock Hill, South Carolina) put up 12 and Sydnor added 11.

But every time The Shore chopped into the lead, the Spiders answered.

"They hit some big shots when they needed it," Batchelor said. "We just didn't seem to get it. We got some shots from some kids. Brooklyn hit some shots and Amanda hits some shots to really keep us in the game. I thought Porsha played a really good game for us particularly in the second half when some shots weren't falling and she started attacking. They made baskets more consistently and that was a the difference in the game."

Carney continues to lead the team in scoring upping her average to 10.4 points per game in just her fourth career start and second of the season. She also added four rebounds and a pair of assists.

"We want to continue to encourage her to shoot the ball," Batchelor said. "That is what she does. Offensively, with some of the kids we are playing without it leaves some holes and forces some kids to carry some heavy loads like Brooklyn and Amanda."

Bailey and Ksenia Popovich (Moscow, Russia) tied for the team lead in rebounds with five apiece, but Eastern Shore had a tough night on the boards against a bigger Spiders team and got outrebounded 41-25.

The team also struggled again from the field overall in the first half shooting just 26% (8-of-30), but improved to 14-of-25 (56%) in the second half. While the bench produced just eight points it did provide some solid play for the shorthanded Hawks.

"I thought we got some good play off the bench from Kenetria Redfern (Cheektowaga, New York) tonight and even Jamaya Blanks (Greensboro, North Carolina) — who didn't have a chance to get back in the game in the second half — I thought she gave us a bucket in the first  half and played some good minutes," Batchelor said. "We are starting to find some kids that I hope we can depend on. We need to play a more consistent game on the offensive end as opposed to shooting  ourselves in the foot by not being able to make an open basket."

The game was a huge step up from the performance in Tuesday's victory against Greensboro College. Despite another slow start on the offensive end, the team didn't give the ball away nearly as much as the 18 it was averaging per contest coming in.

"The one thing I looked at which we wanted to address tonight is that we had 10 turnovers," Batchelor said. "That's the best that we have done this  year with taking care of the basketball. I think we need to find things like this that we can build on and we can't settle with being close. We have to do a better job of competing at every level and every aspect if we are going to win basketball games."

The Hawks will next travel to Norfolk this weekend for a matchup with Old Dominion on Sunday (Dec. 8) at 2 p.m.