HU’s Home Winning-Streak Halted by Hampton, 52-39

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The lack of bench production was the deciding factor for the Howard Women’s basketball team as the Hampton Pirates handed the Lady Bison their first loss at Burr Gymnasium, 52-39.

The Pirates outscored the Bison 14-0 from the bench.

With Saadia Doyle playing the entire game in foul trouble, she led all scorers with 17 points, shooting 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, and 4-for-10 from the field, in just 24 minutes of action. Tamoria Holmes tallied 10 points in 40 minutes of action. Cheyenne Curley-Payne had a solid performance with seven points, five rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Nicole Deterville finished with a game-high of eight rebounds and two blocks.

HU (13-7, 5-2 MEAC) quickly came out battling, with Doyle hitting a jumper in the first 33 seconds of the match to open up scoring. Hampton’s Jericka Jenkins responded with a traditional three-point play. Alyssa Bennett scored a lay-up just under the 15-minute mark to spread the Pirate lead to 8-3. Kara Smith answered with a wide-open layup closing the gap to 8-5. After a trey from Choicetta McMillian, Howard notched a 7-0 run to capture its first lead of the match, 12-11, from a three-pointer by Holmes at the 10:30 mark. However, with just under seven minutes left in the half, Hampton (15-3, 7-0) picked up its momentum and scored six straight points to end the half for a 23-12 spread.

Howard came out the lockeroom with a quick basket by Doyle within the first 24 seconds. Hampton’s Bennett responded with a jumper inside the paint spreading the lead back to 11, 25-14 by the 19:12 mark. Both teams battled back to back until the Bison closed the lead to seven points (32-25) with 13:44 left in the ball game. Hampton went on a 7-0 run pushing the lead back to double figures (40-25) in just under three minutes of play, however.

The Pirates controlled the rest of the ball game, defeating Howard for the second time this year and handing the Bison their first loss at Burr Gym this season.

After scoring 23 points in the last meeting, Bennett scored another team-high against HU, finishing with 16 points, off 7-of-12 from the field. Jenkins recorded 12 points and nine assists. Hamilton, who was the game changer for Hampton, contributed eight points in 23 minutes of action.

Howard will be back on the road traveling to Georgia to face Savannah St. on Jan 28. The game is slated for 2 p.m.

Follow Coach G’s fan page on Facebook to get a behind the scenes look at the team as they make their push toward the Big Dance: www.facebook.com/NikiGeckeler.

Box Score

Written by Julee O'Neal, W. Basketball, Broadcast Journalism '13

Jamilah Corbitt, Assistant Director of Sports Information
HOWARD UNIVERSITY
HOWARD-BISON