Box Score DURHAM, North Carolina — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore led Saturday's (Feb. 22) contest at North Carolina Central for more than 26 minutes, while the Eagles held the advantage for just 10. Unfortunately for the Hawks, NCCU led for the final 2:34 of the contest picking up a 78-70 victory.
The Shore (5-20, 2-10 MEAC) shot a strong 44% from the field and 41% from behind the arc, outrebounded the Eagles 36-33 and turned the ball over just 14 times. However, Eastern Shore had a rough time overcoming NCCU's 38-of-34 from the free throw line.
"I thought we had one of our most consistent games of the year on the road," Hawks coach Fred Batchelor said. "It's just really challenging to overcome 20 extra free throws — without making excuses. I take my hat off to coach Odom and their players. They deserve that win, but it's tough to overcome when one player shoots more free throws than an entire team."
Eagles senior Paulina Afriyie finished the game, 12-of-15 from the free throw line, while the Hawks took just 14 attempts from the charity stripe. Afriyie finished with 22 points and nine rebounds to lead Central.
Freshman Mya Thomas (Chesapeake, Virginia) led Eastern Shore with 18 points to go with two rebounds and a pair of assists. The 18 tied a career high that she last accomplished on Feb. 8 in a win at Morgan State.
"I thought we came out and got some great play from Mya Thomas," Batchelor said. "She's still a baby. She's like a little baby chicken out there trying to find her way. It is tough because we want so much from her. We want to get her comfortable with getting coached hard as a freshman which is hard because you have to be mentally tough. She has a lot of mental toughness to her to be able to come in here and play the way she played. We're just trying to make her great and that is always the rub — whether kids want to be good or want to be great. I think the kid wants to be great and we're seeing the beginning of a I think a really special kid in this program."
Adrienne Jones (Baltimore, Maryland) had 10 points, one rebound and two assists, while Brooklyn Bailey (Rock Hill, South Carolina) added 13 points, two rebounds and a pair of steals.
Junior Amanda Carney (Old Bridge, New Jersey) and sophomore Taylor Clayborne (Upper Marlboro, Maryland) combined for 19 of the team's 22 bench points. Clayborne had 10 points, five rebounds and a steal in 17 minutes of action, while Carney had nine points — on 3-of-6 from deep — and three rebounds. The three triples gave her 54 for the season and moves her into 8th place on the all-time single season list behind former teammates Ciani Byrom and Keyera Eaton who each made 55 last season.
Neither team held a lead bigger than eight points in the contest, but the Eagles outscored the Hawks 29-16 in the final quarter to pull out the victory.
"I like what we got from our kids today on the road," Batchelor said. "We will build on this and then be better because of it. I think we've given up 65 free throws in the last two games. That's a lot of free throws. I'd love to get some of those. But we have to just keep fighting, making no excuses and get better."
