PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore held a 49-48 lead with 9:55 left in the fourth quarter, but an 18-7 run by UNC Greensboro propelled the Spartans to a 66-56 victory on Saturday (Dec. 11) at the William P. Hytche Center.

"I thought we made a good effort," Hawks coach Fred Batchelor said. "I thought we had some negative plays that negated our effort and a couple of costly turnovers. But I thought they took the game. There were two teams playing in that game and I thought they made the plays that they needed to make to win the game. Sometimes it's to no fault of our own other than they are a better team and I thought they proved it down the stretch."

In the fourth quarter, the Hawks (4-6) were 3-of-13 from the field and turned the ball over three times. They were also outrebounded in the final period 15-5.

"For three quarters, I thought we gave them everything they could handle and in the last 10 minutes they kind of separated themselves," Batchelor said. "I thought that was the difference in the game and we struggled in the last 10 minutes."

Amanda Carney (Old Bridge, New Jersey) had 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting including five from deep to lead all scorers and added three rebounds, two assists and a steal. However, the graduate student's last points came on the 3-pointer with 9:55 remaining that gave the Hawks their final lead.

Moments later she picked up her fourth foul and ended up setting almost three minutes before getting back in. By then, The Shore was trailing by seven and the Spartans had put on the defensive clamps.

"After a while, you don't have to convince your kids they need to guard someone," Batchelor said. "I'm sure the scouting report was to not let her get the ball. However, now (late in the game) it might mean you are finding another player that does a better job and I thought she still got a couple open looks. It did take her out of her rhythm and having to play on the other end and deal with some of the fouls she had to deal with kind of took her out of it.

"I thought they did a good job of concentrating on her and making us find someone else to beat them and to be honest our back court didn't play well at all. They were ineffective on the offensive and on the defensive end."

Brooklyn Bailey (Rock Hill, South Carolina) and Mya Thomas (Chesapeake, Virginia) struggled from the field for the second straight game. Between La Salle and UNCG, they combined for seven points, on 3-of-27 shooting, 9 assists, 2 rebounds and a steal.

Mahogany Lester (Virginia Beach, Virginia) chipped in 12 points — on 5-of-8 shooting — five rebounds and two steals.

"Coming into the season, she hadn't played in two years and if she can stay on the floor she is a tough kid to guard in the midrange spot and if she gets it going she is as good as anyone at knocking that shot down," Batchelor said.

UNCG won the battle on the glass 41-35, but the Hawks fought for every board they got against a pair of front court players averaging a combined 16.7 rebounds.

"That was a huge challenge because they were not just big girls, but strong rebounders and athletic," Batchelor said. "Both of them average almost 10 boards a game."

Senior Jaylynn Brown poured in a team-high 18 points for the Spartans and Batchelor said she was the X-factor.

"She came in and she had a big first half," Batchelor said. "We made adjustments in the second half, but that gave them a cushion."

The Hawks will not play again until Saturday (Dec. 18) when they travel to Mount St. Mary's for a 1 p.m. matchup.

"It's exam time, so the kids are focused on that," We'll take a little bit of a break. It's a long year and we'll get back at it and practice at an alternate facility — which will be a little different because our gym won't be available due to graduation.

"We'll be trying to work on tightening things up and executing. I'd like to be able to work on getting the ball into our offense quicker. I think it is so methodical sometimes that it really slows us down."