BIG SECOND-HALF RUN LEADS TOWSON PAST UMES, 61-50

BIG SECOND-HALF RUN LEADS TOWSON PAST UMES, 61-50
TYLER BIRNBAUM 12/18/10

Mercer tallies game-high 21 points in loss

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - Towson started the second half with a 25-6 run to break open a two-
point game at halftime and defeated the University of Maryland Eastern Shore women's
basketball team, 61-50, at the William P. Hytche Athletic Center Saturday.

Towson (5-4) led at the break, 28-26, and extended its advantage to 53-32 over the first 8:02 of the second half before UMES closed to within nine points at 56-48 over 1:44 but got no closer.

Krystal Parnell led three Towson players in double figures with 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting in
the win while UMES' Kwinnyata Mercer (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) tallied a game-high 21 points on
6-of-11 from the field and 3-for-5 from 3-point range off the bench in a losing effort. Chena
Parker (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds for
UMES (2-6).

Towson outrebounded, 45-28, leading to a 15-7 margin in second-chance points.

The Tigers scored 14 of the game's first 15 points in four minutes. Simona Petronyte drained
consecutive 3-pointers to cap the run. The Lady Hawks then rallied to make it a 22-16 game in
more than eight minutes. Mercer had eight points in the stretch, including a fastbreak layup off a
steal with 7:58 left. A Deree Fooks layup temporarily halted the run but LaKendra Wilkerson
(Greensboro, N.C.) and Bria Jackson (Rochester, N.Y.) each hit jumpers to pull UMES within two at the half.

The Tigers held UMES without a field goal for 6:28 of the second half to lead 47-29 before Mercer
knocked down another trifecta. Mercer later hit back-to-back threes with 4:05 remaining to make
it a workable 55-45 game but the Lady Hawks got no closer than eight.

Towson shot 42 percent from the floor (21-for-50) and held UMES to 38 percent (18-for-47).

Sheree Ledbetter and Dovile Miliauskaite each had 11 points for the Tigers.

The UMES bench outscored Towson's, 35-17.

UMES travels to play Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C., Monday at 7 p.m.