Photo Courtesy HU Sports DepartmentThe Howard Women's basketball team pulled out another win to defeat Fairleigh Dickinson by 10, 66-56 on Dec. 30 at Stratis Arena, Teaneck,N.J.
HU finished the month of December with a perfect 7-0 record and improved its overall mark to 8-5 heading into the New Year. The Bison started the contest a little rattled as FDU opened with a 10-4 run. The run was ended with a three pointer by Kara Smith at the 12:30 mark.
From there, HU found momentum as Smith hit another shot behind the arc to put the Bison down by one, 10-9. Howard picked up its intensity and forced the Knights into a turnover. Following the turnover, Smith drowned a jumper which gave the Bison their first advantage of the half. The lead changed as Desiree Crawford scored a layup to give FDU the lead back.
Howard did not back down as Zykia Brown drained a three-pointer to make it 14-12 at the 7:37 mark. By the 2:19 mark, Howard led by 11 (23-12) over the Knights. Both teams scored back to back buckets to finish the last two minutes of the first half strong. HU went into the lockerroom ahead 30-18. Halftime notes: Smith led the Bison at the half with 12 points by shooting 5-7 from the field.
Howard controlled the glass leading with 20 to FDU's 12. The Knights forced HU into nine turnovers and scored eight points from their miscues. FDU shot 1-8 (12 percent) from behind the arc and 7-25 (28 percent) from the field. To open up the last 20 minutes of play, Howard scored a three-pointer and a pair of free throws to spread the led to 19 by the 17:04 mark.
Danielle Pankey gave FDU a spark as she knocked down a basket behind the arc decreasing HU's lead to 16 in just 16 seconds. By the 13:50 mark, Howard pushed its lead to 21 points, 48-27.Both teams swapped baskets until the 10:26 mark as FDU went on a 10-0 run to close the lead to just six points, 52-46, with just 7:36 left in the ball game. Howard found some energy after a three-point basket which ended the Knights run at the 6:09 mark.
Howard held on to defeat Fairleigh Dickinson 66-56. For the Bison, Brown led the game with a season-high of 19 points on shooting 8-11 from the field and 3-5 from behind the arc. Tamoria Holmes contributed 14 points, eight rebounds and four assist. Smith chipped in with a season-high of 12 points in 20 minutes of action. Nicole Deterville grabbed a game-high of nine boards to finish the match. FDU kept Saadia Doyle under double-digit scoring as she chipped in with seven points.