PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore finally opened the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference season on Monday at home against Howard (7-6, 1-0 MEAC). But having not played a game since Dec. 21, The Hawks (4-9, 0-1 MEAC) struggled to find any kind of offensive cohesion as the Bison took their first lead (7-5) with 6:49 to go in the first quarter and never looked back.

"Howard played well and they posed some real challenges for us," Batchelor said. "We had 26 days between games and I thought it kind of hurt us when it came to getting any type of rhythm. We seemed to have no rhythm and it seemed to get a little discouraging and I think they got discouraged out there today."

Eastern Shore trailed by just eight at the half (35-27) despite turning the ball over 15 times, and seeing Howard pull down nine offensive rebounds. The Shore held Howard to just 24% from the field in the first half, but the Bison converted 17-of-21 from the free throw line. The Hawks were whistled for 17 first half fouls to Howard's nine and leading scorer Amanda Carney (Old Bridge, New Jersey) picked up three fouls in four minutes of first-half court time.

"It is times like this when you really need somebody to help take over and we didn't have anyone step up and do that," Batchelor said. "I thought with Amanda getting into foul trouble, that hurt her rhythm and then I thought they did a good job against her when she was in. They took away any type of rhythm she could get in."

The Hawks were without graduate student Angelique Taylor (Wachapreague, Virginia) and sophomore JaPria Grady (Washington, D.C.) who missed the game with injuries. Taylor's absence and Carney's foul trouble played havoc with the rotation and left Batchelor at times searching for options on his bench.

By the end of the game, Howard had raised its shooting percentage to 31% with Destiny Howell putting up 20 points on 6-of-14 shooting behind the arc. They also converted 23-of-32 from the free throw line while the Hawks were 13-of-22.

"I just thought everything that could go wrong for us today did other than the fact that we didn't lose anybody to injury," Batchelor said. "We come back tomorrow and get back to work and get ready for this weekend. We knew this was going to be a tough come out after not just being off for so long, but after kids coming back having not played basketball and dealing with COVID and the lingering effects that had on our conditioning."

Sophomore Mya Thomas (Chesapeake, Virginia) led Eastern Shore with 10 points on 5-of-14 shooting and was the only Hawk to reach double figures. Freshman Ariana Seawell (Bronx, New York) chipped in seven points and a career-high seven rebounds.

"We are just going to regroup, take it on the chin," Batchelor said. "I'm disappointed to take one at home like this, but we are in different times and we are going to be better as a result of it."