SUMMARY

The University of Maryland Shore were unable to overcome a fast start from the visiting Norfolk State Spartans in a 70-48 conference loss.

THE SCORE

Norfolk State (21-4, 7-0 MEAC) - 70

Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (8-15, 3-5) - 48

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Spartans hit an early three for the first points of the game, and from that point on Norfolk State never relinquished the lead for the remainder of the game. Norfolk State outscored UMES 27-11 in the opening quarter behind a 4-of-7 performance from beyond the arc. Ce'nara Skanes paced the Hawks through the first, scoring five of her team-high 11 points. Dakieran Turner got on the board with a pair of free throws while Aleah James and Ashanti Lynch made their way inside for a bucket each.

The pace of play slowed through the second quarter as Norfolk State maintained a slight, 12-9, scoring advantage as the Hawks were held to 26.7% from the field while Norfolk State shot the ball at a 21.4% clip. Skanes continued to buoy the Hawks' offensive game with another four points while Lainey Allen and Zamara Haynes added another three and two points, respectively.

UMES and Norfolk State saw similar offensive production in the third as the Spartans notched a 15-8 advantage in the frame. While the Hawks maintained a 14-6 rebound advantage, the Spartans' limited UMES' offense to 2-of-14 from the field. Mahogany Lester put the Hawks on the board first in the second half with a layup while Turner added another four and Skanes two more.

The Hawks enjoyed their best quarter of action in the final frame with a 20-16 scoring advantage while going 7-of-15 from the field and perfect 3-of-3 from three. Barnes set the tone in the quarter for UMES, scoring all 10 of her points in the quarter while knocking down a pair of threes.

BY THE NUMBERS

Ce'nara Skanes led the Hawks in scoring with 11 while Brianna Barnes scored another 10.

UMES outrebounded Norfolk State 40-32 with Skanes pulling down eight while Amira Ofunniyin and Aleah James grabbed six and five, respectively.

Norfolk State hit 50% of its shots from beyond the arc, going 12-of-24. UMES went 3-of-11 from beyond the arc with all three of the Hawks' triples coming in the fourth quarter.

It took 1:09 for either side to score points in the game before Norfolk State scored a three. The Spartans never trailed after that point.

UMES marked the seventh straight game with double digit assists as the Hawks dished out 10 for the game. Zamara Haynes led the Hawks with three while Ofunniyin and James each distributed a pair of assists.

COMMENTS FROM HAWK HEAD COACH MALIKAH WILLIS

Thoughts on progressing through the second half of the conference lineup 

"We're at that point where we hit the wall in the season where we're coming around a second time and everybody else out there is stepping their game up. We played a damn good team. Norfolk State is a very good team, and we're trying to get on that level, as far as collectively. We've got a few players that consistently are showing up and stepping up to challenges. We need our whole team, all five on the floor, every minute, every second pulling in the same direction."

Importance of the depth of the team

"I think we don't lose anything defensively and as far as rebounding when we sub, especially in the post. But we do lose a lot offensively with Mahogany off. She's starting to get comfortable with that range and three-point game. Now that she's shooting it, when she goes down we're missing it. It's some stuff we've been working on with her and our team realizing to get her the ball at the top of the key. Those couple of minutes hurt our momentum and scheme."

Perimeter play

"They were hot today. They were skipping the ball, that's pretty much what they were doing. We were heavy on the help-side defense, and their game plan was to skip it to the corners, and they were hitting. We're not going to change anything we're doing. It's rare that you shoot 12-of-24 from three against us, but they're a great team and they did it. We're going to stick to our defensive principles, and hopefully we get to see them again and contest those shots then.

Short turnaround to Howard

"We're just going to show our game. Our film, a lot of the mistakes we made, a lot of that was three pointers also. Again, I said I thought we hit that wall. We just have to stay true to us and our identity.

NEXT UP

The Hawks travel to Washington, D.C., to play Howard at 5:30 p.m.