SUMMARY
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (4-10) pushed the Georgetown Hoyas (7-5) throughout the entirety of the Hawks' matchup, but could not hold off the home team as the Hawks dropped the game 78-68.
THE SCORE
Georgetown Hoyas (7-5) - 78
Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (4-10) - 68
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first quarter ran a dead heat as neither side relented. The Hawks exited the frame with a 14-14 tie as Ashanti Lynch dropped in six points to lead the Hawks while Brianna Barnes led UMES in rebounds with four. Mahogany Lester, Ce'nara Skanes and Lainey Allen each added another three rebounds as the Hawks held a 15-9 advantage on the boards through the frame.
Through the second quarter the Hawks upped the ante and continued to pile on the pressure as they improved on the 26.3% shooting in the first to shoot 40% in the second while going 6-of-15. However, UMES trailed the Hoyas through the quarter as Georgetown took a 21-15 scoring advantage in the frame to take a 35-29 lead into the halftime break. In the second, though, Amiaya Morgan and Skanes led the Hawks in scoring with six points each while Allen continued to lead the way on the boards with another three rebounds.
The third quarter saw a barrage of points as the Hoyas led UMES 28-26 in the period. Both sides remained efficient with their shots as UMES shot 60% on 12-of-20 from the field while Georgetown went 63.6% on 7-of-11 while hitting 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Barnes took the lead for UMES in the quarter with eight points while Allen knocked in six and Zamara Haynes added five.
In the fourth quarter the Hoyas managed to maintain their lead as they held a 15-13 scoring advantage in the final frame. Six Hawks got on the board in the period with Haynes leading with four. However, the Hoyas held onto their lead as their shots hit from the free throw line as they went 7-of-11 to hold off the Hawks' fourth quarter comeback attempt.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Hawks' bench outscored the Hoyas' 32-12 for the game with Skanes leading the effort with a team-high 14 points in 25 minutes of play.
For the second time this season, three players crossed into double digits for scoring for UMES. Skanes led the way with 14 while Haynes and Barnes scored 13 and 10, respectively.
UMES caused 20 turnovers for the Hoyas while grabbing 12 steals. Barnes grabbed five steals while Lynch notched another four.
Georgetown's win came with a bevy of shots from the free throw line as the Hoyas made 23-of-29 attempts while Hawks were limited to 10-of-17 from the free throw stripe.
For the sixth time in the last seven games, UMES had a different leading scorer with Skanes putting up 14 points against the Hoyas.
UMES was held to 4-of-13 from beyond the arc to the Hoyas' 11-of-30 while Georgetown shot 47.8% as a whole from the field to the Hawks' 40.3%.
COMMENTS FROM HAWK HEAD COACH MALIKAH WILLIS
What the team learned from playing Georgetown
"We know we can play with anybody and we got better with our traps. We forced 20 turnovers, which was great. We had 15, a lot of ours were unforced. We just learned we can play with anybody. That's it."
Bench and depth contributions for the team
"We have some spark plugs coming in off the bench. We have people that actually could be starting for us coming off the bench, Skanes, Lainey Allen – who did start at a certain point. That's the beauty of our team. We can go deep. We just have to be consistent."
Consistency of the team
"I look at it that we have 40 paint points, but miss about 15 layups. So, I get it. It looks great on paper, but we want 70 paint points."
Looking at team's performance before conference play begins
"We've been doing everything. We've got about five breaks with free throws in practice. Got a bunch of layups going on. We just have to get out of our own way."
NEXT UP
The Hawks return home for a 7 p.m. matchup in their last non-conference game of the season against Lincoln (Pa.) on Jan. 2.
