Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) led by as much as 18 points as they pushed past MEAC rival South Carolina State, 73-61.

 

The Lady Hawks (4-8, 1-1 MEAC) took care of the basketball tying a season low 13 turnovers and added a season-high 17 assists.  April McBride led UMES tying with a game-high 21 points.  Casey Morton was the only other Lady Hawk in double digits, finishing with 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

 

Nine steals in the first half would help lift UMES up early.  The Lady Hawks never trailed in the contest.  Morton finished off a three point play at the foul line with 3:50 left in the first half to put UMES by 12.

 

A long three with 1:55 left on the clock by Josephine McLane pushed the lead to 15, but Sophilia Hipps responded with a layup for the Lady Bulldogs to close out the first half.

 

South Carolina State (3-10, 0-2 MEAC) would continue the rally to close the gap to seven in the second half. Hipps capped off a 6-0 run by completing a three point play of her own with just over

17:00 minutes to play.

 

McBride then scored seven unanswered points to put UMES back up by 15.  The Lady Hawks would keep a double-digit lead through to the end of the game.

 

Three Lady Bulldogs finished in double-digits.  Hipps tied McBride for a game-high 21 points and

Kristin Johnson would finish with a double-double, netting 12 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.  Marie Reid had 10 points.

 

UMES is back on the road again. They will travel to Greensboro, N.C. to face MEAC rival North

Carolina A&T on January 17. The Lady Hawks are 3-3 against the Aggies under Head Coach Fred Batchelor, boasting a 2-1 record on the road.

 

Batchelor said, "[North Carolina] A&T is talented enough to not be focused and still beat people by 30 or 40, but I think we match up with them very well.  We can't shoot 37-percent from the floor against them.  We're going to need to make some shots to beat them."

 

Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. and will be a homecoming for freshman Amber Cook who is fifth on the team with 57 points and currently leads all bench players.