NORFOLK, Virginia — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore last faced off with Norfolk State a whopping four days ago. Now — with a win at Delaware State coming in between — the Hawks (7-13, 3-5 MEAC) will meet the Spartans on the road Saturday at 4 p.m.
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference portion of the season is always a slog, but with reschedules due to COVID protocols wreaking havoc with the early conference schedule, the Hawks are coming off of three games in five days and Saturday's contest will be the fourth in eight days.
"It's interesting playing all these games on top of each other," Eastern Shore coach Fred Batchelor said. "They just played at Howard last night and I had a chance to watch them. We are still learning after playing them one time and. Lot of these kids I have only seen once. I think we are still learning each other and that might have been some jabs that we were both throwing at each other on Monday. I'm just hoping that we can continue seeing the fight."
Janay Turner's tying 3-point attempt came up short in the game's final seconds as NSU fell on the road to Howard, 71-67. Camille Downs led the Spartans with 19 points, with Mahoganie Williams adding 14 points and six rebounds.
The result marked NSU's first loss in conference play this season. The Spartans (10-8, 6-1 MEAC) remain in sole possession of first place in the conference standings, half a game ahead of the Bison (12-8, 6-2 MEAC).
"They are 5-1 in league play and they just had their first loss to arguably one of the better teams in the league on the road at Howard," Batchelor said. "They are still the best team between the two of us as far as records are concerned and we just have to prove that we can play with them — particularly on the road — and we should have a lot of confidence particularly after the way we played them the first time at home."
To find success on the road for the second consecutive game, Batchelor knows his squad will need the type of inspired defense they played at home against the Spartans. If not for shooting 28% from the field the 53-48 loss could have turned out differently.
"I think it started with the defensive end and it continued to the offensive end," Batchelor said. "We got some really good and inspired play from Bairesha Gill-Miles (Lexington, Kentucky). She was drawing charges in the first and the second half and she got us 11 rebounds. It's that type of energy we are going to need from an experienced veteran player.
"It is just a matter of time because when I say that I also think about Amanda Carney (Old Bridge, New Jersey) and her ability to knock down big shots at big moments as well as Brooklyn Bailey (Rock Hill, South Carolina). I just like how we are developing and this is going to be a critical game to our continued development at this late stage of the season."
Gill-Miles had another strong game at Delaware State on Wednesday putting up 18 points, while Carney had 13 points and eight rebounds. Freshman Ariana Seawell (Bronx, New York) is averaging 10.1 points and 7.4 rebounds over eight MEAC games. Bailey leads the team in scoring for the season with 7.7 points per game.
