8 Straight for Howard With 62-49 Win Over UMES On Senior Night

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Howard University women's basketball team won its eighth straight, 62-49, over the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore (9-16, 6-7 MEAC) at Burr Gym on senior night. The Lady Bison, now 21-7 on the season, will finish the 2011-12 campaign with a 10-1 home record.

Three players reached double-figures en route to their 13th conference victory. Tamoria Holmes had a solid night with 22 points, five assists, three steals, and a career-best three blocks in 39 minutes of action. Saadia Doyle finished one board shy of a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds. Zykia Brown tallied 10 points – just one shy of her 1,500th point – and pulled down six off the glass.

As a team, the Lady Bison finished with a 31.3 shooting clip (15-for-28). HU scored 20 points off 23 UMES miscues, while committing 18 of its own.

In the first period, HU got off to a fast start with a quick triple from Holmes – the first of five by the Lady Bison in the first three-plus minutes of regulation. UMES responded with a layup by Shanyce Stewart, but India Bradford hit a three-pointer on the next possession to give the Lady Bison a four-point edge, 6-2. A layup by Nicole Deterville gave HU a 13-4 lead by the 16:02 mark.

Sparked by a Chelsea Sanders jumper, the Lady Hawks notched a 16-2 run over a seven minute span to take a 20-15 slim cushion over HU midway through the period. From there, the advantage changed hands three times, with Howard ending the first 20 with a 9-2 run to take a 32-26 lead into the lockerroom.

In the second stint, Holmes scored five-straight unanswered points to push the advantage to 37-28 by the 16:14 mark. UMES cut it to six on two different occasions, but would get no closer than that for the remainder of the game. Howard achieved its widest margin at 14 (50-26) off a four-point play by Brown and a shot from behind the arc by Doyle at the 9:07 mark – her first made three-pointer of the season.

For the Lady Hawks, Kwinnyata Mercer notched 12 points, while Sanders tallied 10. Amber Cook chipped in with eight points in 29 minutes of action.

The Lady Bison are back in action on Sat. Feb. 25 for their final regular season match against Delaware State beginning at 5 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

Jamilah Corbitt, Assistant Director of Sports Information
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