Howard Women's Basketball Edges Cornell for First Win of 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. --  2016 has gotten off to a great start for Howard women's basketball.

In its first game of the New Year and its last of the non-schedule schedule, the Bison were able to hold off the Cornell University Big Red for a thrilling 76-74 victory Saturday afternoon in Burr Gymnasium.

Three Bison players finished in double figures to propel HU to its first home victory of the season: senior center Victoria Gonzales (22 points), senior guard Imani Bailey (13) and junior guard Jasmine Hill (10).

Gonzales scored 18 second half points and her final tally led all scorers. She also scored nine straight points in a six-minute span during the third quarter. The Atlanta native shot 7-of-15 from the field, 8-of-9 from the free throw line, and was only rebound shy of her sixth double-double of the year.

Her efforts pushed her career point total to 989 - only 11 points away from the 1,000 point mark.

Bailey - one of four players that made their season debuts against Cornell - nailed four straight three pointers to start the game and ended up with half of the Bison's season-best total from long distance. Hill scored six points in the fourth after only having four points in the first three periods.

Howard stormed out to its largest lead of the season (29-9) by the late stages of the first quarter and took a 16-point edge into the second.

Cornell (7-6) responded in-kind by outscoring Howard 27-15 to pull within four (44-40) by halftime.

After the Big Red trimmed Howard's lead to three (57-54) after the third and two (63-61) with 5:56 left in the game, the Bison pushed back out to an eight point advantage (69-61) at the 4:34 mark on a steal-and-score by redshirt junior guard Te'Shya Heslip.

However, Cornell made one final push and used a 13-4 run to take a 74-73 lead with 1:09 to go - its first lead since hitting the first basket of the game.

Howard would call a timeout with 45 seconds left after each team exchanged turnovers.

With the ball advanced to the frontcourt, the Bison were able to run a play that got the ball into Hill's hands and the veteran guard drove hard to the basket for the go-ahead score.

Cornell missed its next shot attempt with 11 seconds remaining and would foul to send Heslip to the foul line. After making the second of two shots, the Bison defense kicked in to keep the Big Red from getting a final shot off.

OTHER NOTES
- For the third straight game, Howard has shot over 80 percent from the free throw line, going 14-of-17 (.824) from the line and 48-of-58 (.828) during the three-game run.
- Hill, Heslip and redshirt sophomore forward Erin Blaine all played in their first games of the 2015-16 season. Heslip finished with seven points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals while Blaine went scoreless in limited action.
- Junior forward Sydni Johnson bounced back from a scoreless game at Syracuse to play 38 minutes and score nine points.
- The 76 points by Howard are the most the team has recorded in any game this season.

NEXT UP
Howard resumes Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play on Saturday, January 9 at 2 p.m. when the Bison host Coppin State University.

COURTESY HOWARD UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION