PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore didn't have much to be happy about following a 63-51 loss to Howard to open Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play at home on Jan. 15. After finally getting one game under their belt after going 26 days without facing an opponent, the Hawks (4-9, 0-1 MEAC) now welcomes South Carolina State (1-14, 1-0 MEAC) for a Saturday (Jan. 22) matchup at 2 p.m.
"We want to make it a game where we force more turnovers than we commit and win the battle on the backboard," Hawks coach Fred Batchelor said. "We also have to do a good job on Nicole Gwynn, who is their leading scorer. She had 26 in their win against Central. She was 6-for-11 from the 3-point line, so we have to get up and crowd her and force her to put the ball on the floor as opposed to giving her space because she shoots it pretty deep too."
Gwynn, a freshman from Wethersfield, Connecticut, is averaging a team-high 12.5 points per game for the Bulldogs. She is shooting 30% (34-of-112) from behind the arc and grabbing 4.1 rebounds per game.
The Hawks were burned the last time out against Howard by Destiny Howell, who put up 20 points on 6-of-14 shooting behind the arc. It is a challenge at times for the Hawks' smaller guards to match up with perimeter players who can shoot over them because of their size.
"Gwynn presents that challenge for us too, because she is 5-foot-9," Batchelor said. "What I'm trying to explain to our kids is that it is a whole lot easier shooting when you are 5-9 to 6 feet shooting over someone who is smaller. You really have to get up and get in their shot. It's not enough to just be in front of them. Against bigger players we aren't posing a threat with the size of our guards and not getting out on them."
Batchelor is focused on the team's effort heading into the contest because that is what they can most control at this point. After a year off because of opting out because of the COVID-19 Pandemic and then nearly a month off during this season because of COVID protocols, he feels like the progress that they made wasn't there against the Bison.
"Hopefully we can regain it and these beginning conference games are the building blocks for the future," Batchelor said. "We had a bad taste in our mouth after Monday. Having two more games at home is a great opportunity for us to get above .500 in conference play and we want to take advantage of that."
After facing the Bulldogs, the Hawks will welcome North Carolina Central on Monday at 5:30 p.m.
