DOVER, Delaware — The University of Maryland got a lot of what it needed in Wednesday night's (Feb. 9) matchup at Delaware State. First and foremost the Hawks picked up a 79-48 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference win on the road.
Eastern Shore (7-13, 3-5 MEAC) also shook off their shooting woes from a home loss to Norfolk State on Monday and made buckets at a 45% clip from the field, 32% from behind-the-arc and 75% from the free throw line.
"It was a good team win," Hawks coach Fred Batchelor said. "I thought Delaware State played really well in the first quarter and I thought our kids kind of grinded them down a little bit. There was a fatigue factor with the number of players that they had and then one more kid goes down and that makes it tough for them."
The Hornets (0-15, 0-6 MEAC) held a 19-17 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Hawks ended the second quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 35-28 halftime lead and never looked back.
Graduate student Bairesha Gill-Miles (Lexington, Kentucky) led the Hawks with 18 points to go with four rebounds, a pair of assists and a steal. Classmate Amanda Carney (Old Bridge, New Jersey) found her shooting stroke dropping four of her eight attempts from deep. Sher finished with 13 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had three assists and a steal.
Freshman Ariana Seawell (Bronx, New York) continued her hot play with 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists, a steal and a pair of blocks. Junior Mahogany Lester (Virginia Beach, Virginia) also reached double figures with 10 points, five boards and a steal in just 14 minutes.
The Hawks won the battle on the boards 50-22, scored 36 points in the paint and held the Hornets to 35% from the field.
"I thought we had a good team effort and it's always good to get a win in February in conference play," Batchelor said.
The Hawks will next continue a four-game road swing with a second matchup against Norfolk State this week at 2 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 12).