Howard secures win over FAMU in under 10 seconds

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. (www.howard-bison.com) –  With under a minute remaining, the Howard University women's basketball team paced to a 5-2 run for a nail-biting 58-57 win over the Florida A&M Lady Rattlers in Tallahassee, Fla., on Saturday, Feb. 16.

With 1:32 on the scoreboard and Howard down 55-52, senior Cheyenne Curley-Payne dropped a pair at the charity stripe, bringing the Lady Bison within two.  Fellow senior Kara Smith scored a three pointer at the 44.4 mark for a one-point lead.  Florida A&M's Jasmine Grice regained the lead from the free-throw line, nonetheless Howard pulled out the victory with a layup by Jerelle Gorham with 10-seconds left in the game.

Saadia Doyle, who was a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe, finished with 23 points.  Smith tallied 13 points, while Curley-Payne notched nine points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and three steals.

As a unit, the mighty blue and white shot 41 percent from the field (23-of-56), 29 percent from the three-point arc (4-of-14) and 67 percent  from the free-throw (8-of-12).

Statistically, Howard outscored FAMU in the pain (24-to-12), off second chances (13-to-4) and off the fast break (2-to-0).

HU opened the contest with an eight-point lead by the first media timeout at 14:12.

By the next media timeout, FAMU came within three on a 9-4 run, 15-12.

The Lady Rattlers continued their home-dominance hitting on an 8-4 run for the first lead of the half, 20-19.

Florida A&M went on to the lead the contest at the halftime intermission, 29-26.

When Howard returned to the court, Smith scored a basket from the long range to tie the contest 29-29 at the 19:51 mark.

Howard and FAMU went back-to-back until the 15:07 mark, when Doyle scored two points on a pair from the free-throw line.

Florida A&M put Howard on their heels, when the Lady Rattlers took a 47-45 lead and maintained the lead until the 1:32 mark when Curley-Payne paced the Lady Bison to victory.

Howard returns to action on Monday, February 18 to take on Bethune-Cookman at 5:30 p.m. in Daytona Beach, Fla.

For more information on Howard Women's Basketball, visit the official athletics website at www.howard-bison.com.


By Ariel V. Germain, Assistant Sports Information
HOWARD UNIVERSITY
HOWARD-BISON.COM