WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PREVIEW
When: Saturday, January 28 at 2 p.m., vs. Maryland Eastern Shore
Monday, January 30 at 6 p.m., vs. Delaware State
Where: Corbett Sports Center
Must See: The fans will see a different-looking North Carolina A&T team. The Aggies are without guard Tracy King, who injured her meniscus on Jan. 16, will miss the rest of the season. The Aggies have lost two starters, and are now down to just four players who have more than one year's experience in the program. The 11 first-year players on their roster will be getting more playing time to fill the holes in the rotation. Freshman guards Kelsei Ewings and Jessica Lyons have seen more playing time. Other notable first-year players who have seen their minutes increase include forwards Ariel Bursey, Tiffanie Adair and Jaylan Bodiford. Both Bodiford and Adair have earned MEAC Rookie of the Week honors this season, with Adair garnering that acclaim twice in the last two weeks. Under head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs, the Aggies are 8-2 against UMES, and have won their last seven matchups against the Hawks.
UMES Notes: Head Coach Fred Batchelor won his 100th career game on Jan. 23, as the Hawks defeated Bethune-Cookman, 47-43, at home. The Hawks were selected to finish eighth in the conference. UMES is 3-2 in conference play, which places the Hawks fifth in the conference standings. The Hawks have a two-game winning streak entering Saturday's game. They are currently ranked eleventh in the conference in scoring offense, and fourth in scoring defense. Junior Chelsea Sanders leads the team in scoring (12.6 ppg). She's the only Hawks player averaging double figures. Sophomore forward Shanyce Stewart leads the team with an average of 6.4 rebounds per game, and senior guard Amber Cook is averaging 1.9 assists to lead the team.
She's Heating Up: Sophomore Tiffanie Adair garnered MEAC Rookie of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks, from Jan. 9-15 and Jan. 16-22. She is the second Aggies player to win MEAC weekly honors twice in this season, joining sophomore Tracy King with two defensive player of the week honors. Adair tallied 20 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and one steals for the Aggies from Jan. 9-15. On Jan. 14, she scored 12 points and six rebounds, with 5-for-7 shooting from the floor. She also had two assists and 31 minutes on Jan. 14 as well. She was perfect from the floor in the team's loss to Florida A&M on Jan. 9, going 4-for-4. The team played one game from Jan. 16-22, but Adair made a strong effort in that overtime loss at Morgan State. She had a career night on Jan. 21, collecting 20 points with nine rebounds and five assists in 40 minutes. She was tied for the team lead in scoring and assists in that game, and led the team with three blocks.
