February 4, 2013

Written by Ariel V. Germain, Assistant Sports Information Director

Howard v. South Carolina State

WASHINGTON, D.C. (www.howard-bison.com) – February 4 – A 54-53 loss to South Carolina State University displayed that free throws are the key to wins and losses on Monday, Feb. 4 in Burr Gymnasium.

With 22-second remaining, Howard displaced two one-and-one options from the charity stripe, giving SCSU the cushion necessary to monopolize on three consecutive layup attempts for HU's third Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference loss.

Senior Saadia Doyle led the contest with 13 points, while freshman Imani Bailey, who shot of 2-of -3 from the long range, finished with 12 points, and Cheyenne Brown's career-high 10 points.  Senior Cheyenne Curley-Payne tallied nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

The mighty blue and white began the contest with a slow start, falling to a 12-point deficit by the 11:09 mark. 

Imani Bailey set the Lady Bison on a 17-8 run over seven minutes of play, with a three-pointer at the 10:20 mark.  The run led to a 26-26 tie by the 3:21 point of the contest and with a jumper by Brown, the Lady Bison took the lead for the first time of the competition.

SCSU snapped the run and regained the lead going into halftime, with a long range basket by Mykala Jones.

Following the halftime intermission, Howard varied between nine additional lead changes and three ties with South Carolina State.

By the 4:07 mark Howard took the lead and headed towards victory.

With under a minute remaining, Nicole Deterville went to the charity stripe on a 1-and-1, as she missed the first free throw, Howard missed out on a possible two points.

Ten seconds later Imani Bailey was sent to the free-throw line, also for a 1-and-1. As she displaced her first shot, HU again missed an opportunity to advance two points additional.

As SCSU regained possession, the Lady Bulldogs out rebounded Howard 3-0 on the SCSU offensive end and turned three layup attempts into a buzzer-beating two-point basket from the paint.

In the loss, Howard drops to 12-9 overall, 6-3 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and 6-2 in Burr Gymnasium.

Howard will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 9, to welcome the Lady Hawks of Maryland Eastern Shore at 2:00 p.m. in Burr Gymnasium.

For more information on Howard Women's Basketball, visit the official athletics website at www.howard-bison.com.

-HU-