HAWKS HOLD OFF WILDCAT COMEBACK UMES wins 44-36 in a cold shooting night for both teams CHEVONNE MANSFIELD JANUARY 22, 2007 Collegiate Women's Basketball PRINCESS ANNE, MD - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) women's basketball team held off a second half comeback by Bethune-Cookman (BCC) to pick up their fourth MEAC win of the season Monday night. UMES picked up the 44-36 win at the Hytche Center to improve to 8-11 (4-3 MEAC). With the loss, the Lady Wildcats fell to 4-13 (1-7 MEAC). After taking a 3-point lead at halftime at 19-16, the Lady Hawks opened the second half on a 14-5 run and pushed their lead to 12 at 9:57. BCC responded and cut the deficit to seven at 5:02, after a trey by Traci Fountain spurred a mini 5-0 run for the Wildcats. A steal and a lay-up by April McBride with 3:43 to play put the UMES lead back to double digits. Bethune-Cookman would get no closer than seven points after that. Danielle Cooper had a team-high 10 points for the Hawks. McBride just missed a double- double and finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. Tristan McCray's 11 points led the Lady Wildcats. Natasha Ferguson added 10 rebounds. Neither squad shot particularly well as UMES shot just 28% from the field (13-of-43). BCC finished 13-of-55 (24%) but committed 22 fouls compared to 12 by the Lady Hawks, leading to 14 more attempts from the charity stripe for UMES. The maroon and gray went 16-for-26 from the free-throw line while Bethune-Cookman finished 6-for-12. Both teams shot 25% from beyond the arc (4-for-16). BCC held an 18-11 advantage in points off turnovers while UMES topped the Wildcats 11-7 in bench points. UMES travels to Baltimore on January 27 to face off with the defending MEAC Champion Coppin State at 2:00 pm.