Howard Falls to American in Season Opener
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Zykia Brown and Saadia Doyle combined for 32 points, but it was not enough as American topped Howard 71-59 in the season opener for both teams Friday night at Burr Gymnasium.
Doyle was 3-of-7 from the floor, but made 10-of-10 free-throw attempts to lead the Lady Bison in scoring with 16. She also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the year. Brown added 16 points while connecting on 6-of-7 from the charity stripe. Tamoria Holmes had seven points and Cheyenne Curley-Payne dished out a game-high four assists for HU (0-1).
Michelle Kirk scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Eagles (1-0). American also received 18 points from Liz Leer and eight points from Ohemaa Nyanin. Kirk led her team in rebounds with seven.
The Lady Bison took a one-point lead at the half, 34-33 after climbing out of a seven-point deficit with 6:34 remaining until the break. Howard held a 25-17 lead on the boards and converted 11-of-14 free-throws, compared to 4-of-7 free-throw attempts for AU.
The second half saw the Eagles take a 15-5 run spurred by a Leer jumper at 19:35. American took a nine-point lead with 14:53 remaining, but the Bison cut the lead to five with 8:38 left. Baskets by Brown and Kara Smith were not enough, however, and American scored four-straight points over the next few minutes. Kirk's lay-up with 4:40 remaining gave American a 10-point lead, its first double-digit lead of the night.
The Eagle lead later swelled to 19 on an Ashley Yencho basket at the two-minute mark.
Howard next travels to Teaneck, N.J. for a matchup against Fairleigh Dickinson on Monday. Game time against the Knights is slated for 7 pm.
