PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore got exactly what it needed on Saturday to begin a stretch of three games in five days.

The Hawks (6-17, 2-7 MEAC) picked up a 76-34 victory against visiting South Carolina State behind a strong and balanced offensive effort that included 57 points from the bench.

"After Monday's game, I thought we needed to make sure we started feeling good about ourselves this week or that old feeling comes back," Hawks coach Fred Batchelor said. "I thought we did a good job of getting off to a good start in the first quarter and it just kind of steam rolled from there. I thought they were a little bit undermanned and I thought we continued to play at a pace that was challenging for them."

Kiarra Kennedy (The Bronx, New York) and Zamara Haynes (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) led the Hawks with 11 points apiece. Kennedy — whose 11 points was a career high — added five rebounds and an assist, while Haynes had six boards, five assists and a steal.

"If you told me that we were going to have this type of scoring production and only get seven points out of Mahogany Lester (Virginia Beach, Virginia) and Ariana Seawell (The Bronx, New York) combined, I would say it's gotta come from somewhere."

That somewhere ended up being 11 different Hawks who scored with eight of them putting up at least five points. Mya Thomas (Chesapeake, Virginia) had a strong overall game and had 10 points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal.

"I thought Amiaya Morgan (Sicklerville, New Jersey) was huge today off the bench and she hit some big outside shots," Batchelor said. "We knew we would get those type of looks against their defense and their lack of size."

Morgan, a redshirt-freshman, hit 2-of-3 from behind the arc and had eight points and a pair of boards. Classmate Ashanti Lynch (Hookerton, North Carolina) chipped in nine points, a pair of assists and two rebounds in just 14 minutes.

UMES shot 49% from the field and 39% from behind the arc. The Hawks also pulled down 44 rebounds, dished out 19 assists and turned it over just 15 times, while picking up nine steals.

The Hawks will host North Carolina Central as part of a men's and women's doubleheader beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Monday (Feb. 20). That is the second of three games in five days. The third is on Wednesday (Feb. 22) when the women host Coppin State in a makeup of an earlier season game rescheduled because of COVID 19 protocols.

"Those are two more games we need to get," Batchelor said. "We have to get ready for that. I have been so focused on this one and not looking past it. This will be a challenge for us, but now we have to take care of Monday before we even think about Wednesday.

"At least they are all at home. It's nice to not have to travel like that and we want to take advantage of that.