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

Browder records 400th XU victory; Nuggets topple LSUS

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana defeated LSU-Shreveport 55-46 in women's basketball Saturday to end a three-game losing streak and give Bo Browder his 400th career victory as coach of the Gold Nuggets.
     

Whitney Gathright scored 20 points, Donyeah Mayfield had 11 points and 10 rebounds, Mikayla Bateshad a career-high seven steals, and Kelsee Singletonblocked a career-high-tying five shots for Xavier (10-5), which will play its Gulf Coast Athletic Conference opener at 5:30 p.m. Monday against Edward Waters at the Convocation Center.
     

Xavier is ranked ninth in NAIA Division I, and LSUS (6-5) is 22nd. It was the Gold Nuggets' fifth victory this season against a ranked opponent.
     

Browder is 400-147 in 17 seasons at Xavier. He is the fourth Louisiana women's basketball coach to reach 400 victories.  Browder is 402-155 overall as a head coach at four-year colleges. He was 2-8 at Evansville as an interim coach in 1995-96.
     

"I have been very blessed to work at Xavier, an outstanding university, and work with some talented young ladies," Browder said.
     

Gathright made three 3-pointers and was 9-of-10 from the line in her fourth 20-point performance of the season and 12th of her career. Mayfield recorded her second double-double of the season and her sixth in two XU seasons. Bates, a freshman, produced the most steals in a game by an XU player in two years.
     

Singleton's basket at 5:54 of the first quarter put Xavier ahead to stay, 3-2. The Gold Nuggets led 30-20 at halftime and led by 20 points three times in the third quarter. The Pilots (6-5) cut XU's lead to seven in the final 66 seconds but did not get closer.
     

Xavier blocked nine shots, its most in a game since February 2011, and had 15 steals.

    

"Our defense was very good for the first three quarters," Browder said.
     

Courtney Randle had 10 points, six rebounds and three steals for LSUS. Kourtney Pennywell, a first-team NAIA All-American last season who missed the past six games because of an ankle injury, did not start but had nine points and five rebounds in a team-high 27 minutes.
     

Xavier is 5-0 at home this season and 5-0 in Saturday games.

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Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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S.C. State Defeats Miami (Ohio) 71-67

OXFORD, Ohio –Junior guard Eric Eaves scored a team-high 23 points to lead South Carolina State to an 71-67 victory over Miami(Ohio) Saturday (Jan. 2) at Millett Hall Arena.

Eaves came off the bench to hit 7-of-13 from the floor and 9-of-12 from the line. The Bulldogs (6-10) closed out the three-game Midwest swing with a much needed victory over a talented MAC opponent in non-conference action.

Sophomore guard Ed Stephens finished with 13, while senior guard/forward Gabriel McCray chipped in 10 and five rebounds in the win.

Despite a lofty 17 turnovers by the Bulldogs, SC State dominated the boards out-rebounding Miami (Ohio) 38-28 and shot 77.8% (28-of-36) from the free-throw line, while scoring 34 points from bench play.

Geovonie McKnight paced Miami (6-7) with a career-high 24 points. Eric Washington added 16.

Miami (Ohio) led 37-26 at intermission and by as many as 12 early in the second half.

Late in the second-half South Carolina State led by eight, 59-67, with 1:29 to go. LJ Livingston scored on a dunk, then McKnight tipped one in and Rod Mills made a pair at the line to get within two, 67-65, with 28 seconds left.

After a pair of free throws by Bulldog sophomore guard Ty Soloman, Mills scored on another tip-in with three seconds left. Stephens then tossed in a pair of free-throws from the charity stripe to seal the victory for South Carolina State.

South Carolina State returns home to open up conference Saturday (Jan.9) against NC Central in a pivotal MEAC doubleheader. Tipoff is 4 p.m., immediately following the women's contest at 2 p.m. at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.

For more information on SC State Athletics visit www.scsuathletics.com

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Texas Southern’s 3-point barrage buries Southern in SWAC opener

HOUSTON, Texas -- Even when the 3-pointers weren’t falling, Texas Southern was still turning them into three-point plays.

Texas Southern hit 10 3-pointers in the second half and turned another 3-point miss into an offensive rebound, putback and pivotal three-point play.

All in all, defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Texas Southern outshot and outrebounded Southern in a dominating 88-66 victory at H&PE Arena on Saturday.

“We didn’t match their execution and intensity tonight,” Southern coach Roman Banks said.

“At the end of the day, they were much more ready to play than we were. Coming to their home court, they were determined to be ready.”

Chris Thomas scored 25 points, including three 3-pointers, while Jose Rodriguez added another 18 points and three 3-pointers to lead the Tigers.

Adrian Rodgers led Southern (8-6, 0-1) with 14 points. Jared Sam had 12, while Trelun Banks had 11, Tony Nuun 10 and Chris Thomas 10.

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GSU men snap pair of streaks

GRAMBLING — Mark Gray and Nigel Ribeiro scored 18 points apiece and Grambling State beat Alabama A&M 81-78 in overtime in a Southwestern Athletic Conference opener on Saturday night.

Grambling State (3-9, 1-0) outscored Alabama A&M 9-4 in overtime to snap its four-game skid. The win also ended a 37-game losing streak against Division I competition for the Tigers.

“We got the monkey off our backs,’’ Grambling coach Shawn Walker said. “We’re trying to change the culture here, and now these guys believe that they can win.

“We haven’t been in a game up 3 with 30 seconds left, so I’m proud of them. Certainly they’re happy, …and we’re going to take this momentum into the rest of 2016.”

Deonte Hearns scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Remond Brown added 15 points for the Tigers.

The Tigers led by as many as seven points three times during the second half, the latest at the 11:49-mark.

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Jackson State earns tough win to start SWAC play

JACKSON, Mississippi -- Wayne Brent has his theory on why the opening night of conference play is tough.

"Everybody is 0-0 and thinks they have a chance to win a SWAC championship," he said. "So you're going to get a team's best shot. As you go through the season, teams start losing games, they start to give up. That first night is just so difficult because teams know if they win that first one, they still have a chance."

Jackson State's SWAC opener definitely presented its own set of challenges.

The Tigers had an answer for all of them, though, in a 68-61 victory against Alabama State at the Lee E. Williams AAC on Saturday night.

JSU (6-8) threatened to pull away multiple times and led by nine points with 8:13 left in the game, but the Hornets (5-8) never surrendered and crept within three points twice in the final 4:29.

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Lady Panthers open SWAC play with 58-54 win over Alcorn State

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – The Prairie View A&M Lady Panthers snapped a four-game losing streak Saturday as they defeated Alcorn State 58-54 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

Prairie View A&M senior forward Larissa Scott recorded a double-double, scoring 13 points and pulling in 15 rebounds. The SWAC's leading rebounder, Scott, who also ranks 11th nationally in rebounding, reached double digits in caroms for the first time since Dec. 5.

Alexus Parker also scored 13 points for the Lady Panthers (5-5, 1-0 SWAC). Lamaria Cole came off the bench for the first time this season and scored 12 points for Prairie View A&M.

Alcorn State's Norianna Haynes, the leading scorer in the SWAC, scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Lady Braves. Tori Danielle Spann and Ashtin McNichols scored 11 points and 10 points, respectively, for Alcorn State.

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