UMES LOOKS FOR THIRD STRAIGHT WIN, FACES N.C. A&T IN GREENSBORO

UMES LOOKS FOR THIRD STRAIGHT WIN, FACES N.C. A&T IN GREENSBORO
DAVE VATZ 01/27/12

Greensboro-native Amber Cook returns to hometown

GREENSBORO, N.C. - After winning their last two games at home, the Lady Hawks (6-11, 3-2 MEAC) hit the road to resume conference play, tipping off against the Lady Aggies (7-12, 2-4 MEAC) of North Carolina A&T on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

- LAST TIME OUT: UMES won its second home game in a row with a 59-45 victory over CIAA-opponent Lincoln, outscoring the Lady Lions by 14 in the second half. The Lady Hawks began the game with a 12-3 run in the first 6:27, including three baskets from Chelsea Sanders. Lincoln came back to take the lead, but a 5-0 run by UMES sent the teams into halftime tied at 24. With Lincoln up 33-32 in the second half, the Lady Hawks held the Lady Lions scoreless over the next seven-and-a-half minutes, building a nine-point lead. UMES would not relinquish the lead again, taking the 14-point lead. Sanders finished with a career-high 23 points off 10-19 shooting, also getting a season-high nine rebounds. Amber Cook earned 14 points with six boards. Denyse Moore led Lincoln with 11 points and four steals.

- SERIES HISTORY: North Carolina A&T leads the overall series record 37-25, defeating UMES in its last seven contests. The Lady Hawks last defeated the Lady Aggies on February 3, 2007 with a 65-60 win in Princess Anne while their last win in Greensboro came on January 29, 2005 with an 85-75 overtime victory. N.C. A&T won the last game in overtime 80-68 in Princess Anne last season.
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- SCOUTING THE LADY AGGIES: Currently on a four-game losing streak, North Carolina A&T holds a 7-12 overall record and stands with a 2-4 MEAC record. The Lady Aggies, a team without a senior on its roster, started the year 6-2 but have since lost 10 out of their last 11 games. Junior forward JaQuayla Berry leads the team with 14.8 points and 6.8 rebounds a game, adding 44 steals. Junior Amber Calvin runs the floor, standing with 67 assists and averaging 12.4 points a game, including shooting 39.6%
from three-point range.

- COACH BATCHELOR EARNS 100TH WIN AT UMES: With the victory over Bethune-Cookman, Fred Batchelor got his 100th with UMES, currently standing at 101- 122 in his eight seasons. He is the winningest Lady Hawks coach and is the only coach in UMES women's basketball history to earn 100 wins.

- AGBASI REACHES 150-BLOCK MILESTONE: With at least three blocks in each of her last seven games, Adobi Agbasi stands at 178 blocks in her career. This season, Agbasi has 47 blocks, standing second in the MEAC in that category. She stands second all-time in blocks in UMES history behind Kristi Veltkamp, who finished with 231
blocks from 2004 to 2008.

- BARR EARNS MEAC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Porsha Barr got UMES's first weekly MEAC award, getting Rookie of the Week for the period ending Jan. 1. The freshman forward shot 3-5 against Wake Forest, totaling eight points and three boards.

-PROTECTING THE PERIMETER: UMES is 26th in Division I and second in the MEAC in three-point shooting defense, with opponents shooting just 25.5% from beyond the arc. The Lady Hawks have allowed four or less three-point baskets in 10 of their 17 games this season, including four of their five MEAC contests.

- CHELSEA LEADING THE WAY: Chelsea Sanders leads UMES with 12.6 points per contest, earning double digit points in 12 out of 17 UMES games this season. She also sports a team high 30 steals and is second on UMES with 5.8 rebounds a game. Sanders has three times gotten at least 22 points in a game this year.