MEAC Women's Tournament Opening Round: S.C. State 62, Bethune-Cookman 52

Coach Doug Robertson

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Whitney Wiley scored 19 points, including 10-11 from the free-throw line, and Trinese Fox and Paris Alston each added 10 as the Lady Bulldogs advanced to the quarterfinals of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference women's tournament for the second straight year.

S.C. State (12-16) rallied from an eight-point deficit with 9:27 left in the first half to take a 26-23 halftime lead. The Lady Bulldogs would maintain the advantage by holding the Lady Wildcats (13-17) to 2-11 shooting from three-point range and outrebounding them 38-29.

Sarah Bolden led all scorers with 16 points for Bethune-Cookman, followed by three players with 10 points each in defeat.

HU Bison Bulldoze through S.C. State Bulldogs for Fifth Straight Win

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In its largest margin of victory on the season, the Howard Bison overtook fellow MEAC opponent South Carolina State, 59-25, extending its winning streak to five-straight games. Cheyenne Curley-Payne got the Bison (10-14, 6-4 MEAC) rolling with three crisp shots behind the arc to immediately put HU up, 15-3.

“Cheyenne hit big shots for us,” Bison assistant head coach Brian Johnson said. “We had good execution of our plays and in our defense. We made key stops and we scored which resulted in great execution tonight.”

With a little over five minutes into the game, Bison threat Tamoria Holmes temporarily left the game with a shoulder injury. She would return later in the half where she quickly converted back-to-back field-goals, including a three-pointer and a layup on a breakaway steal to push up the Bison, 32-5. Holmes finished with 10 points after the first 20 minutes.

Offensively, the Bison would break away to a 36-7 lead going into halftime as the Bulldogs (2-8, 6-14 MEAC) failed to convert shots and recorded a mere five offensive rebounds.

The Bison outpaced the Eagles in rebounding, 23-11, as HU capitalized on 14 defensive rebounds. Howard would score six of its first half points on second chances, whereas the Bulldogs were limited to none. South Carolina State’s Tiara Knotts, however, would attempt to bring her team up late in the game after landing three baskets from behind the arc, closing the scoring gap, 54-23.

Holmes, Curley-Payne, and MEAC leading-scorer Saadia Doyle would return to the game in attempt to slow down the Eagles’ momentum. The dynamic trio powered forward with an impressive Bison defense until the close of the game, holding SCSU to 18 points in the second stint. In their noteworthy defensive stance, the Bison tallied 14 assists, three blocks, 12 steals and a season high of 44 total rebounds.

Curley-Payne dominated with 12 rebounds (three offensive, nine defensive) in the conference win. Meanwhile, Doyle finished with 12 points in the game, leaving her 103 points shy of the monumental 1,000 point mark. Tasia Majors made an appearance in the second half and recorded her first points in her collegiate career.

“Minutes are valuable for preparing for tournaments,” Johnson said. “We try to give everybody at least two to three minutes, here and there. As for today’s game, we were focused on playing hard against a team that beat us twice and knocked us out of the tournament last year. We made sure we won and Cheyenne helped with key shots early on.”

In the final stretch of the regular season, every game is crucial for the Bison. Entering in Monday’s battle with South Carolina State, the Bison were locked in a five-way tie for third place in the conference and look to stay on pace to break higher the conference ranks as they hit the road to take on North Carolina A&T on Sat. Feb. 12.

“Our focus was to win the home games, and we accomplished that,” Curley-Payne said. “Now we have to take the confidence we build with us on the road.”

by Jamilah Corbitt
Assistant Director of Sports Information
Howard University

FAMU women roll past South Carolina State

ORANGEBURG, S.C. — The last time that the Florida A&M women's basketball team lost a game, coach LeDawn Gibson pointed to too much one-on-one play as the reason. She has been warning her team about how detrimental individualism could be as the Rattlers head into the second-half stretch in conference play.

On Monday night, the Rattlers showed more than one sign that they are taking heed. While rolling past South Carolina State 79-65, the Rattlers were unselfish to the tune of 21 assists. Then, when the Bulldogs tried to make a second-half run, more than one player answered with a clutch shot that SCSU didn't get any closer than six points.

FAMU Lady Rattlers Win 2nd Straight Road Game

ORANGEBURG, S.C. – The Florida A&M Women’s Basketball team picked up back-to-back road wins as they defeated South Carolina State, 79-65 here Monday evening at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.

FAMU (10-10, 5-3) was paced by Tameka McKelton as she scored a game high 22 points to lead all scorers. Jasmine Grice added 13 points, followed by Antonia Bennett with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Myeshia Simms rounded out the cast of Lady Rattlers in double-figures with 10 points.

Florida A&M 79, South Carolina State 65

Poor shooting and another shaky defensive performance resulted in the Lady Bulldogs' sixth consecutive loss. S.C. State (6-11, 2-6) trailed 40-28 at halftime after shooting 11-33 from the field and committing 12 turnovers. The Lady Bulldogs fell behind as many as 17 points, but managed to cut the deficit to six on two occasions.

However, numerous missed layups at close range and 20 turnovers kept S.C. State from further closing the game. Senior Whitney Wiley led the Lady Bulldogs with 19 points, but was 5-19 from the field and committed a team-high five turnovers.

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