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| Coach Tennille Adams |
The triumph evens the Lady Bison's record at 1-1 while the Tigers fall to 0-2 on the season after tonight's loss.
New Howard head coach Tennille Adams earned her first win at Howard and her first career victory as a head coach with the triumph.
"It's a tremendous feeling right now," Coach Adams said when asked about getting career win No. 1. "Our team did a fantastic job of bouncing back from the Virginia Tech loss. The team came out with a lot of effort & energy and our staff did a great job of making the necessary adjustments to prepare us for Jackson State."
Heslip was impressive in her first career start, going 6-for-10 from the field, converting on a pair of three-pointers, and knocking down all but one of her 14 free throw attempts. Her 27 points were the most since former Lady Bison player Saadia Doyle poured in 27 points against North Carolina A&T in the 2013 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference semifinals on March 15. She also added six rebounds and four assists to her stat line on the night.
"I think Te'Shya could be one of the best point guards in the country if she puts her mind to it, said Adams of her lead guard.
"She's still a freshman, playing wise, so there are still some things she has to work on to develop and grow, but she can be really good over the next four years."
Howard opened the game with a fastbreak connection from senior Shavonne Duckett to Heslip. JSU responded with a pair of free throws and through the first nine-plus minutes, both teams found themselves knotted at 14-14 with 11:23 to go in the first half.
The Lady Bison would nearly double the Tigers' scoring output (29-15) for the rest of the period as Howard took a 43-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Over the first 12:32 of the second half, Howard would hold a narrow 22-18 scoring edge, which increased their lead to 18 points, 65-47 with 6:55 left.
Jackson State would make one final push, using a 15-5 run to cut HU's lead to 70-62 with 2:48 remaining. Fortunately, Howard stemmed the tide with a 13-1 surge of its own (including going 10-of-13 from the line) to close the game.
True freshman Jasmine Hill hit four three pointers and scored 13 points while redshirt senior Cabria Johnson added 10 points. Sophomore Victoria Gonzalez scored eight points and had a team-high three blocks and freshman Aaliyah Wilson logged team highs of seven rebounds and five assists to go along with seven points.
Junior guard Alisa Ross led Jackson State with 13 points.
Howard will return to Burr Gymnasium for its next game, a 2:00 pm matchup with the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Sunday, November 17.
OTHER NOTES
Howard has now won its last four home openers … with the win, Coach Adams did something her two predecessors can claim – bouncing back from their tenure-opening loss with a victory … after missing all 13 of their three-pointers in the loss to Virginia Tech, Howard shot 40% (8-of-20) from behind the arc.
Box Score
COURTESY HOWARD UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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