Morton's Career High 24 Leads UMES To Win Over Morgan State‏ Sahar Rashid 03/12/09 Winston-Salem, NC—March 12--Casey Morton scored a career-high 24 points and April McBride added nine of 11 after intermission to lead Maryland Eastern Shore to a 70-59 win over Morgan State in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference women’s quarterfinal game at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Lady Hawks (15-13), the Number 4 seed, will take on North Carolina A&T, the Top seed, in Friday’s semifinal at 12 noon. The Lady Bears (17-13), the Number 5 seed, got off to fast start, bolting out to an early 26-15 lead on some hot shooting by Corin Adams and Erin Hawkins, who combined for 22 points on 6 of 10 shooting. The Lady Bears eventually cooled off and UMES settled down and got back into the game on the scoring of Morton, who tallied 13 of her points during a 26-11 run that got her team to within 37-35 at intermission. The two teams played it close through the early part of the second half until a UMES mini run helped create some distance at 50-43 at the 14:06 mark. Morgan State responded with a run of their own to take a brief, 55-53 lead on a three pointer by Brittany Dodson with 8:16 remaining. The Lady Hawks reasserted themselves as McBride and Morton supplied the offense and Adobi Agbasi provided a big lift on defense and on the boards. “ I thought that was an overall team effort,” said UMES Coach Fred Batchelor. “Casey hit some big shots and made plays for us down the stretch. She played like we have been expecting her to.” He continued, “April got off to a slow start but she gave us a big boost in the second half when we needed it. And Agbasi played some excellent defense for us and did some things that may not show up in the stat sheet. I was pleased with the overall effort.” If there was any doubt remaining in the outcome, Morton and the UMES defense removed it. Morton scored nine of her team’s last 15 points in the last three minutes, including 6 of 8 from the free throw line. Meanwhile, the Lady Hawks’ defense limited Morgan State to one field goal in the last 3:20. “We had problems scoring consistently, “ said Morgan State head coach Donald Beasley. “We shot 20 percent in the second half and 32 percent for the game. “That says it all.” The Lady Hawks dropped both games to the Lady Aggies during the regular season, including a 40-point blowout in Greensboro, NC. Coach Beasley says it is an ominous task. “They have only lost two games in the conference the past two years,” said Batchelor. “They have run roughshod in this conference. With a short turnaround and facing them, it is going to be very difficult. We cannot afford lapses and scoring spells against them. But as challenging as it is, we are excited for the opportunity.” Adams, a first team all-conference selection, led her team with 18 while Hawkins added 11 in a losing cause. McBride’s 24 points were a career high. McBride tallied 11 points, 6 rebounds and three assists. Adobi had 6 rebounds and 5 blocked shots in 19 minutes.