SUMMARY

The University of Maryland Shore battled through the first half to keep the game close, but Howard opened up the score in the third to edge the Hawks out, 66-56.

THE SCORE

Howard (13-9, 6-1 MEAC) - 66

Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (8-14, 3-4) - 56

HOW IT HAPPENED

Though the Bison put up the first points of the game, a swift response from Ashanti Lynch from beyond the arc set the tone for the game. Neither side gave much ground through the first quarter as the Hawks held the edge against Howard 17-16 through the period. While Howard went 6-of-14 from the field to UMES' 4-of-11, the Hawks added an extra six points off free throws to lead by as much as five in the quarter. Lynch paced the Hawks with six of her eventual 10 points coming via a pair of three-point shots while Brianna Barnes added another five points and Mahogany Lester a trio of free throws. UMES led by five at the two-minute mark before Howard scored four to close out the quarter with a one-point margin in favor of the Hawks.

Aleah James kickstarted the second quarter with an opening three while Lester followed up a couple minutes later to help buoy the Hawks' lead to 23-18. From that point on, though, Howard maintained the offensive momentum with a 10-2 run through the last seven minutes to take a 28-25 lead into the halftime break.

The third quarter saw an outbreak of scoring from both sides, though in advantage of Howard, 22-17. The Bison went out on a 6-2 run through the first two minutes before Zamara Haynes, Lainey Allen and Lynch helped lift the Hawks back into contention with a combined nine points over the next four minutes to reel Howard back to within striking distance, 41-36. Howard, however, scored nine unanswered before Lester dropped a pair of threes in the final 33 seconds to keep the score within eight heading into the final quarter.

Lester picked up where she left off to open the fourth quarter with a jumper 13 seconds in before Brianna Barnes added a three. Howard responded in kind, though with a pair of threes before Ce'nara Skanes rounded out her fourth quarter scoring the Hawks' next seven points.

BY THE NUMBERS

Mahogany Lester paced the Hawks with 14 points while notching six rebounds and three assists.

UMES outrebounded Howard 39-32 with four Hawks pulling down six rebounds with Lester, Ashanti Lynch, Zamara Haynes and Ce'nara Skanes hitting the mark. Aleah James added another five rebounds in the game.

Howard outshot UMES 24-of-56 (42.9%) to the Hawks' 18-of-55 (32.7%), though the Hawks dropped 12-of-15 from the free throw line to Howard's 9-of-11.

The Hawks tied their season-high for three-point attempts with 22 while hitting eight. Lester paced UMES with three while Brianna Barnes and Ashanti Lynch each hit two.

While UMES led the game in rebounds and second chance points with 12 to Howard's eight, the Bison outscored the Hawks 18-16 in the paint while scoring 10 fastbreak points.

UMES marked the sixth straight game with double digit assists as the Hawks dished out 13 for the game. Barnes led the Hawks with five with Lester adding three while Lynch and Hayens dished out a pair.

COMMENTS FROM HAWK HEAD COACH MALIKAH WILLIS

Thoughts on the game

"I think we've got to step up in a lot of areas. We're about to play everyone for a second time this season, and the scout is out. The scout is out on us and we've got the scout out on other people. We've got to step up and stay focused on the game plan. We have too many lapses throughout the game, early, late. We're still playing the same rotations. We rotate a lot, and we've got to get something out of everybody out on the floor."

Things to work on going forward

"One of the things we need to work on going forward is attacking against the zone, but we knew that. We're looking at zone the whole year. Everyone is playing us zone, and we have to be able to attack and not just take the first shot available to us."

Learning from this game

"It's really just about confidence. We can't look at other team's adjustments to us like we haven't seen it before. Just staying confident in the things we do and getting reps in at practice, we're just going to stay with the process and it's going to click."

NEXT UP

The Hawks remain at home to play Norfolk State on Saturday, Feb. 15, with a 2 p.m. tipoff. UMES will followup with a road game at Howard on Monday, February 17.