Long before Ashanti Lynch pushed through the sting in her chest during the fourth set of full-court sprints, long before her lungs clawed for oxygen and her legs trembled from repetition, she had to survive dinnertime in her North Carolina home.
The 5’9 University of Maryland Eastern Shore senior guard grew up in a family of 18 children. There were nine girls and nine boys, and Lynch was the 12th child and the sixth girl, which meant that Lynch’s first lessons in speed, toughness and urgency came not from a coach’s whistle, but from the rattling of pots and pans in her parents’ kitchen.
When dinner was ready, the house transformed. Footsteps thundered down the hallway. Chairs scraped the floor. Elbows and laughter collided. And Lynch knew one thing with absolute certainty: if she wasn’t quick, the chicken, mashed potatoes and vegetables she loved might disappear before her plate even hit the table.
She discovered during those chaotic moments something every chef knows: luxury today isn’t about distance. It’s about proximity. The closer you are to the pot, the richer the flavor. The closer you are to the people, the deeper the connection.
That instinct for closeness — for staying near the heat and near the heart of the moment — is the same presence she brings to the UMES women’s basketball program, a steadying force who constantly finds herself where the action is.
Those races to the table became Lynch’s first conditioning drills. The only prize wasn’t a water break, but a hefty plate and a full stomach. And they taught her to attack every possession in life the same way she attacked dinner: with focus, urgency, and a refusal to go hungry.
“You definitely didn’t want to be the last person to dinner,” Lynch said, laughing during a Zoom call with The IX Basketball last week. “You had to get to the table fast and get your meal out of the way. Hopefully, there’d be some leftovers in case you got hungry later for a little snack.”
During the Zoom interview, the Hawks showcased their closeness by coordinating in team colors. Lynch sported a black Hawk athletics hoodie, 5’11 senior forward Brianna Barnes wore a maroon zip-up, and second-year head coach Malikah Willis wore a white quarter-zip. This simple, unified palette quietly underscored their connection and team identity.
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Starving for more
Lynch and her Hawk teammates are starving for more this season.
Once they finish the non-conference appetizers, the Hawks want the entire entrée, along with the buffet of sweet treats that accompany winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship and making their first trip in program history to the NCAA tournament. Fueled by last season’s strong finish, in which the Hawks won six of their final seven games, the Hawks, off to a 5-5 start through Dec. 4, are motivated and confident to be the final MEAC team standing in March.
Optimism in Princess Anne, Md., stems from the presence of Lynch, the MEAC’s fourth-leading scorer (12.8 points per game), and Barnes, the league’s seventh-leading scorer (11.5 points per game). Lynch and Barnes also rank third and fourth in the MEAC in field goal percentage. Both are also among the top 10 steals leaders in the conference — Lynch is third (2.9), and Barnes is seventh (2.1). Lynch is also tied for 16th nationally with 29 total steals.
Meanwhile, proving the Hawks aren’t a two-woman show, 6’2 senior forward Lainey Allen is the MEAC’s second-leading shot blocker (1.5) and eighth-leading rebounder (5.7 per game). She’s scored in double digits five times this season. Allen also has two double-doubles this season: one against Loyola Chicago (13 points, 10 rebounds) and one against Mount St. Mary’s (14, 10).
Desi Taylor, a 5’7 freshman guard, is second in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (48.1%) and fourth in 3-pointers made per game (1.3). She was named MEAC Rookie of the Week on Dec. 1. She’s averaging 8.7 points over the Hawks’ last three games. UMES has also benefited from the steady impact of 5’6 sophomore guard Kalise Hill and 6’1 senior forward Dakieran Turner, both of whom have started every game this season.
“I feel like we’re at a good spot,” Barnes said. “We went through enough to where we could learn from the mistakes and build on them. I feel like we keep building and building and correcting the things we didn’t do in the prior game. So right now, we’re at a good spot.”
As a team, UMES leads the MEAC in shooting (40.3%), 3-point shooting (31.8%), and rebounding margin (-1.5). The Hawks are also second in scoring (63.5).
Point-producing duo
Now that hunger shows up in their production.
Lynch, who started playing by watching her brothers, has scored in double digits six times this season, including a season-high 27 points in a road win over Mount St. Mary’s on Nov. 26. She also dropped 22 points in a win over Monmouth on Nov. 11. She has already earned two MEAC Player of the Week honors this season.
“We all knew what it felt like when we lost last year,” Lynch said, referring to the team’s loss in the MEAC semifinals to Howard. “We all came back with a mindset of getting better. And then we brought in new players, and now everybody has a champion mindset. We all clicked from the beginning for real. We all have a mindset to get better every day and work hard every day. So, we keep growing.”
Barnes’ journey was different. A late bloomer who didn’t start playing until eighth grade, Barnes took time to develop, learning the basics of the sport. Now, she’s evolved into one of the MEAC’s better players. Last season, after transferring from Lehman College, Barnes was second on the Hawks in assists and steals, with 51 each.
“Even though I couldn’t even dribble at first, I knew from when I started (playing basketball) that it was going to be something I was going to be doing for the rest of my life,” Barnes said. “I didn’t know what a layup was. They’ll say, ‘Make a layup.’ I said, ‘What’s that like?’ I really started from rock bottom. … My family influenced me. I did have a lot of coaches on the way who poured effort and time into me to help me get better, because they knew it was something that I wanted.”
‘A player-led team’
Willis heard the sweetest soundtrack each time she walked past the basketball courts in Hytche Hall. During those quiet summer weeks on a charming campus where classic red-brick halls and sleek glass buildings live in harmony, the Hawks’ championship mindset blossomed.
Balls rhythmically bounced off the honey-colored hardwood floor. Sneakers squeaked like a melody as players slid into defensive stances. Then came the chorus of voices — not shouting, but talking, directing, encouraging — hyping one another up.
The Hawks were everywhere at once: two players working on pick-and-roll timing, another trio running transition lanes, a freshman getting shots up with a veteran rebounding for her, offering quiet corrections between makes. No one was slacking. No one was checking their phone. They moved with a purpose that didn’t need supervision.
Willis never worried. She confidently knew the players were arriving early and staying late. The gym became their sanctuary long before the season started.
“It’s a player-led program,” Willis said. “I’m not a person of a lot of words. They know that it’s really on them. They’re the ones out there playing. We give them the tools; we’ll set up how we want to scheme and do some things, offensively and defensively, but they’ve got to get out there and do it and prepare. They’re in the gym all the time. I challenge them often.”
Those challenges have yielded huge rewards for the Hawks, who have wins over Loyola Chicago of the Atlantic 10 and Monmouth of the Coastal Athletic Association. The Hawks also edged out a UMBC squad that beat Virginia.
They’ve been competitive in tough losses to Northwestern, Princeton, Virginia, VCU and San Diego State. They still have upcoming home contests against La Salle and Towson, quality programs off to good starts this season.
“We set our schedule up a certain way,” Willis said. “We want the challenges. We won the games that we were supposed to win. The games we ended up losing, we could have won a few of those, too, but that’s the challenge for us… We are still a work in progress, learning how to win. You know, it’s easier said than done, so I’m okay with where we’re at right now.”
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Community connection
Like their teammates, Barnes and Lynch have bright futures.
Barnes is majoring in criminal justice to become a lawyer. When she shared her passion for arguing as one of the reasons for wanting to be a lawyer, Willis emphatically shook her head and laughed. Meanwhile, Lynch is majoring in kinesiology with plans to become an athletic trainer.
With about 3,300 students, UMES offers an intimate setting that allows the Hawks to feel connected to campus life. They walk the same pathways as other students, sit on the picturesque grounds, and attend many of the activities, shows, and concerts offered on campus. It is one reason why the Hawks lead the MEAC in home attendance, averaging 1,492 fans through their first four outings.
Their sense of community does not stop at the edge of campus or the gym.
The Hawks also spent three weeks taking line dancing classes together. Their recent trip to the Bahamas before Thanksgiving accelerated their bonding even more as they had the chance to see each other in a different light. They spent time on the beach, swam in the ocean, and had a blast at the hotel’s water park.
“It was nice spending that type of time with them,” Barnes shared. “We’re always on campus and in the gym, but now we were out of the country, and we can be free to be ourselves while learning more about each other.”
From the summer gym, where sweat dripped from their foreheads, to the ballroom floor, where they moved in sync, the Hawks supported one another, grew, and added another layer of closeness to the program.
Lynch and Barnes are motivated by more than stats, highlights, or likes. They are playing for something bigger.
“My parents are my why,” Barnes said. “I want to make my parents proud and always make sure they’re good, happy, proud, and set for life. So, they’re my why. Without them, I wouldn’t even be here.”
Lynch echoed the same thing.
Food nourished her spirit. Those moments in the kitchen and in the backyard battles with her brothers strengthened her. Those dinners were more than meals. They were soul work that shaped her hunger, her humility, and the way she gives herself to this game.
They taught her what it means to fight for something and to love the people you are fighting for, lessons she now brings to UMES as the Hawks chase a championship of their own and continue to grow closer as a team.
“My mom and my siblings are my why,” Lynch said. “My mom influenced me because she used to play basketball, but she didn’t finish playing in college, so it was always my goal to play at the highest level and be the best that I can be … There were a lot of us, and we had to compete to eat. I want to make sure that they are set for life.”
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