NORFOLK, Virginia — During the second half of Wednesday's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal win against No. 2 seeded Morgan State, University of Maryland Eastern Shore coach Fred Batchelor had a message for his team during timeouts.
"I'm not ready for this season to be over yet," he said.
Heading into Friday's 2 p.m. matchup with No. 3 seeded Howard University still not ready. He's just hoping his team isn't either.
"They played great," Batchelor said of the Bison's 67-35 win against Delaware State on Wednesday. "That was probably their best game of the year. We have got our hands full. They have the MEAC Player of the Year (Destiny Howell), they have point guard (Kaniyah Harris) who is in the top in the country in assist to turnover ratio and they have another kid who can really put the ball in the basket (Aziah Hudson). She hit three 3-pointers in the game today."
The defending MEAC Champions also don't lack in size or athleticism, which has been part of what made them such a tough matchup for the Hawks this season. The first was a 56-47 loss at home and the second was an 80-59 setback on the road. The Hawks did hold their own on the glass holding a slight 51-49 rebounding edge of the two contests.
"They have some post players who are really athletic and really challenge our post players and occupy them on defense, which makes it really tough for them to give us any assistance with players on the perimeter," Batchelor said.
The Bison have held the Hawks to just under 30% from the field and 16% from behind the arc for the season. Howard is holding opponents to 36% from the field this season.
"That is one of my major concerns — scoring," Batchelor said. "I think we have to be able to find ways to score. I'd like to score in transition off of missed baskets as opposed to playing against a set up defense," Batchelor said.
The Hawks got plenty of big plays on Wednesday from a varying cast of characters throughout the game. But Batchelor knows it will take a similar performance to keep the season going.
"We just need kids to step up and make plays," Batchelor said. "I thought that was the difference in the game yesterday. There were kids who stepped up and made plays. That's what this time of the year takes. It takes kids to step up and make plays and separate themselves from the opponent. That's the only way you advance in the tournament.
"We were able to do that yesterday and I'm hoping we'll be able to find a way to do that again tomorrow."
