SUMMARY
WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina – The University of Maryland Eastern Shore women's basketball team entered its first-ever postseason against Wake Forest in the first round of the WNIT. The Hawks took control early and earned their first-ever postseason win and first-ever win against a power conference opponent, 59-48, against the ACC's Demon Deacons.
THE SCORE
Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (20-14)Â - 59
Wake Forest Demon Deacons (14-18) - 48
HOW IT HAPPENED
Though each side traded the first couple of baskets, the Hawks took an early 8-4 lead off a jumper from Kaliya Perry followed by a turnaround jumper from Ashanti Lynch. While the Demon Deacons managed to retake the lead, Desi Taylor and Perry kept the Hawks within striking distance with a pair of jumpers in the final 2:22 to trail by two, 14-12, at the end of the first quarter.
While the Hawks kept it close in the first, they opened up their offense and nearly doubled Wake Forest's offensive output in the second quarter. Wake Forest, though, started off the quarter with a quick three points to go up 17-12 in the first minute before UMES began to take over. Kalise Hill got the scoring going for UMES on a fastbreak layup a minute and a half into the quarter. It took until the 6:08 mark before Perry got the Hawks going again to put the Hawks within three. Taylor followed up by drilling a three to tie the game at 19 before responding to a Wake Forest free throw with another three to take the lead, 22-20. Dakieran Turner helped extend the lead with a pair of free throws before Enola Papin capped the first half with a corner three to give UMES a 27-22 lead at halftime.
Lynch got the Hawks started in the second half with a pair of free throws nine seconds in before hitting a three to put the Hawks up by double digits, 32-22. Perry made a pair of jumpshots, sandwiched between a three and a pair of free throws from Wake Forest. After a pair of free throws from Turner, the third quarter ended with six free throws from the Demon Deacons before Perry hit a buzzer beater to give UMES a 40-35 lead headed into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter went the way of the Demon Deacons as the home team held a 10-2 advantage through the first 4:38 until Taylor hit a three pointer to tie the score at 45. Wake Forest hit a three of its own in response to take a 48-45 lead, but that would be the final score for the Demon Deacons of the night as UMES finished the game on a 14-0 run to secure a 59-48 win.
BY THE NUMBERS
A pair of freshmen led the Hawks as Desi Taylor scored 19 points with five three-pointers while adding a rebound and a steal. Kaliya Perry recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds while adding four steals, three rebounds and a block.
Dakieran Turner led the Hawks on the boards with 16 rebounds while adding four points, a block and a steal.
Kalise Hill dished the ball out around the court with 11 assists while scoring a pair of points and grabbing three rebounds and two steals.
While both sides shot nearly same in terms of efficiency as UMES finished with 33% from the field and Wake Forest 32%, the Hawks hit seven of their threes at a 39% clip to four for the Demon Deacons at a 17% rate.
The Hawks controlled the game on the boards with 44 rebounds to Wake Forest's 33.
UMES held Wake Forest's bench to zero points while the Hawks' bench scored 26.
NEXT UP
The Hawks move on to the second round of the WNIT against Youngstown State on Tuesday, March 24, at 6:30 p.m. in Youngstown, Ohio.
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