The Lady Bison find triumph in first MEAC game against Coppin State
Written by Julee O'Neal, W. Basketball, Broadcast Journalism '13
WASHINGTON, D.C---December 3--- The Howard Women's Basketball team put on a show in front of their home crowd as they defeated the Coppin State (2-5 overall, 0-1 MEAC) Eagles on Dec 3. The Lady Bison (2-5 overall, 1-0 MEAC) found much success in their aggressive defense by scoring 31 points off the Eagles 28 turnovers which lead them to a 63-52 victory.
Tamoria Holmes had another game-best of 22 points, shooting 10-22 from the field and tied Cheyenne Curley-Payne in steals with five. Curley-Payne was a point shy of a double-double with a game-high 13 assists, and nine points. Saadia Doyle tallied her fifth double-double of the season, finishing with 14 points and grabbing 10 boards.
Howard started the match a little rattled by an instant turnover and foul giving the Eagles a lead of 1-0 at the 18:14 mark. After regrouping, HU turned up their energy and took the lead back by a strong drive and finish to the rack from Curley-Payne at the 17:50 mark. With the 2-1 lead, the Lady Bison maintained their intensity offensively by scoring 14 more points to CSU's 14 with just 11:34 left in the first half for 17-15 margin.
The lead swapped after the second media timeout from a three-pointer by Coppin's Leola Spotwood. To recapture the advantage, the Lady Bison turned up their defense with a ferocious block by Nicole Deterville. As Howard's momentum increased, Doyle was awarded two free throws from a CSU foul at the 9:07 mark. With two made free throws, HU advanced the score to 19-18.
As both teams went blow for blow, the score was knotted for the fifth time (31-31) with 18 seconds left in the first stint.
Halftime notes: Howard shot 13-28 (46 percent) from the field, 0-5 from the behind the arc and 5-10 (50 percent) from the charity stripe. Coppin State went 12-26 (46 percent) from the field, 3-11 (27 percent) from the three point line and 4-8 (50 percent) from the free throw line. HU scored 12 points from Coppin's 12 turnovers and outrebounded Coppin St. 19-14. CSU outscored HU 9-2 from the bench and in the paint 14-10.
To tip off the second stanza, Howard tuned into its defense scheme and caused havoc to force the Eagles into a turnover and foul to give HU a one point edge from a free throw by Holmes.
Howard held onto the lead until after the first media timeout. The Eagles capitalized off a HU turnover by scoring a made lay-up from Jeanine Manley, which tied the game 36-36. The score went on a seesaw as both teams battled to gain the advantage.
At the 6:53 mark, the score was tied again 47-47 by a three-pointer from Zykia Brown. From there, the Lady Bison put on their gloves and fought to put Eagles away for good. HU forced Coppin State into another turnover and came back down to hit another three by Holmes, in which progressed the score to 52-47 with just 5:46 left in the ball game.
From there, it was no stopping the Bison as they went on an 11-5 run to close the game out.
Coppin State was led by Manley, who shot 6-8 in the paint and finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. Kyra Coleman chipped in with 10 points, and Crystal Whittington added six points and grabbed nine boards.
Game notes: Howard shot 23-60 (40 percent) from the field, 4-18 (22 percent) from the behind the arc and 12-18 (66 percent) from the free throw line. Coppin State went 18-44 (40 percent) within the arc, went 3-16 (18 percent) from the three point line and 14-24 (58 percent) from the free throw line. The Bison scored 31 points from Coppin's 28 turnovers. CSU outscored HU 20-10 from the bench and in the paint 22-16. Yet, Howard led the game with 12-0 in fastbreak points.
HU will be back in the ring on Monday, Dec 5 to compete against Delaware State. The show will begin at 5:30 p.m. in… The Burr.
