PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore cleared the hurdle of picking up their first victory of the season at home on Saturday when they topped Washington College, but now they will look to build on that against the first Division I opponent they'll face at home.
On Wednesday (Nov. 16) the Hawks (1-2) will play host to Wagner at 6 p.m.
"I think it's a great opportunity for us to get them at home at this time of year and for us to play winning basketball," Batchelor said. "I think that is the challenge for us and it's less about them and more about us. We need to get to playing winning basketball instead of just playing basketball.
"I'm really focused on that right now because I wasn't happy with our last two practices. I think we just came in to practice and not to win."
While the two teams have never met, the Seahawks (1-2) appear to have a similar athletic profile to the Hawks.
"They are athletic and they kind of look a lot more like us than some of the teams we have been playing in the sense of them being more MEAC level athletes," Batchelor said. "They are not that big and they have undersized post players. They have a lot of upperclassmen, which is to their advantage."
The Seahawks boast a 1,000-point scorer in fifth-year player Kem Nwabudu (10 ppg.) who also averaged a team-high 9 points per game. Sophomore Lina Loceniece is second on the team with 9.7 points per game, while three players are tied at four rebounds per game.
"They will press and I think they will challenge us where I think we are a little weak right now, which is ball handling," Batchelor said. "It is going to force us to have a couple ball handlers out on the floor at all times."
UMES is still without point guard Cache' Wilson (Baltimore, Maryland) who is working her way back from injury, so that will continue to present even more of a challenge in the backcourt.
"Missing Cache' is huge," Batchelor said. "I'm really realizing it now more than I ever have after a game where we probably didn't need her the most. It just lets me know who we are as a team and how important it is for her to be in the rotation. Without her being in the rotation, I am struggling to find the right pieces. Hopefully we'll get her back soon."
Batchelor has spent the first three games of the season trying to figure out how the pieces of this year's team fits together without Wilson for now. But the rotation has been a challenge and following the Homecoming win against the Division III Shorewomen, he lamented the position he put the kids in while trying to play everyone. He knows that will have to change as the season moves forward.
"I think narrowing down our rotation is what you'll see against Wagner," Batchelor said. "Allowing those kids to develop chemistry is going to be the focus. But in doing that our conditioning is important too. If you are only playing a certain number of kids they become challenged from a conditioning standpoint."
Two key players who will be in the reduced rotation are redshirt-junior Makayla Adams (Bowie, Maryland) and sophomore Ariana Seawell (Bronx, New York) who are both working their way back from injuries last season.
"You get one kid who was All-Rookie and Third Team All-MEAC and another kid who was effective two years ago and you expect them to jump right in and be not just the same kid they were, but even better and it doesn't work," Batchelor. "Aris has been struggling to get into game shape and she's going to have to work harder to get into game shape. She has to practice like it's a game and not like its practice.
"Mak having not played for two years, timing and rhythm and everything is off. You have to work so much harder outside of playing to get back and I'd still like to see a little more of that from her as well."
Following Wednesday's contest, the Hawks will next be in action on Saturday (Nov. 19) at Drexel.
