November 19, 2012

Howard at Northwestern

CHICAGO, ILL. (www.howard-bison.com) – November 19 – In spite the wins and losses category, the Howard University women's basketball team continues to find the pieces to the puzzle as it forges through the opening month of play.  In Monday's matchup against Northwestern, the Lady Bison dropped a 61-45 decision to the Wildcats of Northwestern in Welsh-Ryan Arena on Nov. 19 in Chicago, Ill.

Blue and white senior Saadia Doyle attained her second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.  Freshman Imani Bailey, who has spent most of debut season injured, made her mark on the season with a career-best 11 points from the bench.

"I think she (Imani) felt healthy tonight, which enabled to play her game, her style of basketball," said head women's basketball coach Niki Reid Geckeler.  "Since Imani is known for being with savvy with the ball she brings energy and a strong shooting game to the team.  She is going to continue to grow and be that scoring guard we need."

HU senior Cheyenne Curley-Payne, who shot 60 percent (3-of-5) from behind the arc, tallied nine points, while fellow senior Kara Smith, who joined Doyle with a perfect outing from the charity stripe, gathered seven points and four assists.

Collectively, the Lady Bison defense held the Wildcats to a season-low scoring outing with 61 points.

"We have always been a defensively solid team," said Geckeler.  "When you look at years past, it has been our defense that got us wins, while we want to build on that, tonight was an offensive setback night."

Sadly, on the night HU shot 22 percent from the field and 32 percent from the long range in spite of managing a good shot selection.

"The things is there isn't a secret to getting shots to drop even when we are open and the offense is running effectively, all I can tell them is to get into the gym and get more shots up outside of practice," said Geckeler.

In the first half of action, HU took the lead on two occasions.  The first off of a three pointer at the 17:47 mark by Curley-Payne (3-2) and the second from Smith's long-range sinker at the 13:55 mark (8-7).

By the 13:34 mark Northwestern took the lead and never looked back.  The Wildcats ended the first half with a 12-point 26-14 lead off a 10-0 run .

After the halftime intermission, Howard snapped its three-minute scoring drought with three layups in the first four minutes of the second half.  Northwestern's double-figure margin lead continued to grow and by the 1:59 mark the Wildcats were ahead 61-38.

Determined to break the 25-point margin lead, HU gave its last fight with a 9-0 run for a final score of 61-45.

After four consecutive games on the road, Howard returns to the "Nation's Capital" for a three-game homestead season opener beginning with Bowie State University on Friday, Nov. 23 at 7:00 p.m. in Burr Gymnasium.

"Going into Friday we just need to regroup, refocus and put a little more effort into practice to beat Bowie State," said Geckeler.

For more information on Howard women's basketball visit the official HU athletics website at www.howard-bison.com.

-HU-