PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore gave Drexel everything they had for the second straight year — this time on the road — but despite leading the game as late as 3:29 left in the contest, the Hawks fell 66-61.
"It was a great effort and some really strong plays as far as the extra effort and plays we made on defense to kind of take the game away from them and dictate the tempo, which I think we were able to do," Hawks coach Fred Batchelor said. "But at the end of the day it was won and lost at the free throw line. When a team can make more than you attempt and then you don't even shoot better than 50% on the ones you get, that's a tough challenge."
The free throw line proved to be the Hawks Achilles heel as they converted just 8-of-17 (47%), while the Dragons went 19-of-24 (79%).
Keishana Washington scored 37 points to go with seven rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals to lead the Dragons.
Freshman Ashanti Lynch (Hookerton, North Carolina) had the unenviable task of guarding Washington for much of the second half and also finished with nine points, eight rebounds and assist and three steals.
"I thought Ashanti showed us what we have in her particularly on the defensive end and I thought she also found some opportunities where she has to learn and grow to become a top notch defender in our league, which I think she is very capable of becoming. I thought she gave us a chance defensively as well as the extra effort of all our guards. That extra effort was huge"
The Hawks were able to hold Drexel's other leading scorer — freshman Kylie Lavelle to just 11 points and six rebounds thanks in large part to the hard work of Mahogany Lester (Virginia Beach, Virginia) and Laney Allen (Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania).
"First of all, I think Mahogany and Laney just matched her," Batchelor said. "We knew we had to stop two kids and by disrupting them and keeping her out of rhythm it really affected her ability to get touches and get into a flow. I thought it was the individual defense from those two, but also the team defense."
Ariana Seawell (Bronx, New York) continues to progress in her return from last season's injury. She had a season-high 13 points and a season-high nine rebounds in a season-high 27 minutes on the floor.
"She's actually been playing a lot better when she shoots the jump shot as opposed to relying on just being able to score inside and that just makes her a little more versatile by hitting the jump shot. That's what she did here and the game at Miami. I think she is just beginning to get back into playing basketball at the pace of the game."
Junior Zamara Haynes (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) led the Hawks with 15 points on 6-of-21 shooting from the field and added a team-high four assists. Senior Mya Thomas (Chesapeake, Virginia) chipped in nine points, three rebounds an assist and a pair of steals.
Last season the Hawks dropped a 65-60 decision to Drexel at home after leading as late as 7:25 left in the fourth, but it was a major step in the development of that team.
"We should have beat them at home last year," Batchelor said. "And they won their conference last year. They were a very good team. They got away with one then. This time the difference was at the line. They understood what they needed to do and we had a couple of lapses late."
Batchelor knows that there is still a lot for this team to work on, but he's pleased to have something to build on at this point in the season.
UMES will next be in action on Tuesday (Nov. 22) when they host Towson at 5 p.m.
