PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — Senior Mya Thomas (Chesapeake, Virginia) put up 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go along with four assists and no turnovers in 20 minutes to help the University of Maryland Eastern Shore to a 92-74victory against North Carolina Central.
"It's a good game for her and I'm glad she's getting going," Hawks coach Fred Batchelor said. "That's what we need and I don't think we can do anything without her. I think she is the biggest ingredient to what we are trying to do. If we get her going then it makes it work for everybody else. Without her it makes it a real struggle."
The Hawks (7-17, 3-7 MEAC) got out to an 18-13 lead after the first quarter and pushed that to 51-24 by the half using a swarming defense and aggressive offense. UMES shot 51% from the field, 35% form behind the arc (6-of-17) and a stellar 84% (28-of-33) from the free throw line.
"Ninety-two points is a lot of points and really a lot of that had to do with making our free throws," Batchelor said. "We went from one game where we missed 17 to making 28 free throws today. I thought at the end of the day that was the difference in the game."
UMES struggled a bit to maintain the intensity and consistency after such a strong first half. The Eagles chipped away at the lead at one point cutting it to just 11 points with under four minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but they got no closer.
"I thought we grew up in that game," Batchelor said. "You get a 25-point lead at halftime against a Division I opponent and they have nothing to lose at that point. What I was concerned about was the third quarter and we lost the third quarter by six. But we were able to come back even in the fourth and hold them off. We did that by scoring 92 points, which is hard to do.
"That's a good win for us right now."
Junior Zamara Haynes (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) scored 16 points (including 12-of-14 from the line) to go with six assists and three rebounds. Freshman Jála Bannerman (Baltimore, Maryland) chipped in 12 points and three boards. Redshirt-Junior Mahogany Lester (Virginia Beach, Virginia) added 10 points, seven rebounds, two assists and three steals in a team-high 31 minutes of tenacious defense.
Junior Cacheá Wilson (Baltimore, Maryland) put up a season-high nine points and Freshman Lainey Allen (Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania) chipped in eight.
The Hawks will host Coppin State on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in a contest that was rescheduled from Jan. 28. They will then face off with the Eagles on the road on Saturday (Feb. 25).
