Box Score
Princess Anne, Md. - In a game that featured a pair of last-second efforts, a technical foul for calling a timeout with none left and a wild finish, the Long Island University women's basketball team was handed its third straight loss. The Blackbirds fell in overtime at Maryland-Eastern Shore, 58-56. Long Island had a chance for victory at the end of regulation and saw another shot rim out in the waning seconds of overtime. Junior Ashley Palmer led all players with 20 points.

 

UMES (2-3) pulled ahead by four points midway through the overtime period but Long Island (4-4) cut it to two at 58-56 when junior Kiara Evans hit a jumper with 46 seconds left. After a turnover by Kwinnyata Mercer, the Blackbirds had a chance to tie and Evans brought the ball upcourt before losing a handle on it at the top of the key. The ball caromed toward midcourt but senior Heidi Mothershead dove to collect it and, with her team out of timeouts, made a tremendous pass while lying on the floor to senior Chelsi Johnson on the wing. Johnson lofted a shot that caught iron and Palmer came down with the rebound as the last seconds ticked off the clock. Palmer was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded, giving UMES the win.

 

Long Island had a chance to win at the end of the second half. The Blackbirds had used a 9-0 run earlier in the frame to claw their way back from a double-digit deficit, tying the game at 36-36 with eight-and-a-half minutes to play. The game stayed close from there as neither team could pull away by more than four points.

 

Long Island took a 49-45 lead with 1 minute, 35 seconds left in the second half on a layup by Johnson. Successive layups by the Lady Hawks' Amber Cook and Adobi Agbasi knotted the game right back up with under a minute to play and the Blackbirds ran some time off the clock before calling their final timeout with 29.7 seconds left. After the break, Palmer attempted to inbound the ball from in front of the scorer's table and, upon seeing no open teammates, asked the referee for a timeout that she did not have. After an immediate expression of regret showered Palmer's face, Long Island was issued a technical foul.

 

A pair of free throws by Mercer gave UMES a 51-49 advantage and the Lady Hawks' ensuing possession resulted in Sprow fouling Cook. Cook missed the front end of a one-and-one, with Palmer coming down with the rebound. Evans was fouled and her two free throws tied the game once again. With 10.6 seconds left, UMES called its last timeout and the following play resulted in a missed shot by Mercer and the ball went out of bounds in front of the Lady Hawks' bench.

 

With 01.3 seconds left on the clock, Johnson inbounded the ball, lofting a football pass toward the basket. Palmer took a few steps and collected the pass, instantaneously putting up a jumper from a step inside the free-throw line. The shot looked good but was off a shade to the right and rimmed out, sending the game to overtime.

 

Long Island benefitted from a 9-0 scoring spurt midway through the half that got it back into the game after trailing by as many as 10 points. A Palmer layup ignited the run, bringing the Blackbirds to within 36-29 and she scored on the next possession when Johnson threaded the needle from the top of the lane into her awaiting hands for an easy bucket.

 

After a Johnson free throw, Sprow came down with a long rebound on the defensive end and set loose an outlet pass for Evans, who cruised to the basket for a fast-break layup. On Long Island's next possession, Sprow missed a shot and Johnson put back the rebound, tying the score at 36-36.

 

Long Island saw a good start go bad in the first half as the Blackbirds' early eight-point lead dissipated when the Lady Hawks heated up from three-point land. After pounding the ball inside the UMES zone to build a 16-8 lead, the Lady Hawks unfurled a 19-1 run to take a firm grasp on the contest.

 

UMES scored seven straight to cut it to 16-15 on a LaKendra Wilkerson layup and Kwinnyata Mercer drained back-to-back three-pointers to give her team its first lead since the start of the game. The Lady Hawks were not done, following up a miss by junior She'tiarra Pledger with another trey, this time coming from Bria Jackson.

 

The trifecta of threes put UMES up 24-16. Evans hit a free throw in an attempt to stop the bleeding, scoring the Blackbirds' first point in almost eight minutes, but Casey Morton drilled yet another three-pointer to push the UMES advantage to 27-17.

 

Johnson's layup with seven seconds left in the half was Long Island's first field goal in 8 minutes, 18 seconds and Palmer narrowly got a jumper off at the buzzer to send the Blackbirds to the locker room down 27-21 at the half.

 

Palmer was joined in double digits by Evans (17 points) and Johnson (13 points) as Long Island shot 41 percent from the field. The Blackbirds held a 39-35 edge on the glass, led by eight boards each from Johnson and Evans. Palmer chipped in seven rebounds.

 

UMES shot 39 percent from the floor. The Lady Hawks were paced by 13 points each from Mercer and Sanders. Cook and Agbasi turned in a team-high six rebounds apiece.

 

Long Island will travel to Dover, Del., on Saturday, Dec. 11 to take on Delaware State at 2:00 p.m.