TALLAHASSEE, Fl. — The Howard University Women’s Basketball team rode a 51-point second half surge to an 82-56 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory over the host FAMU Rattlers in the Lawson Center Saturday afternoon.
Saturday’s setback was the fifth straight for the Rattlers (4-17, 2-8 MEAC), while the visiting Bison (14-9, 6-4 MEAC) completed the sweep of the season series with FAMU.
SATURDAY’S LEADING LADIES
Sophomore forward Jasmine Ballew led FAMU off ther bench with 17 points, followed by graduate center Shalunda Burney-Robinson, who posted her sixth double double of the seasons with 11 points and a season high 15 rebounds. Rounding out the FAMU scoring contingent were freshman guard Alaina Rice with nine points, and graduate transfer Corey Staples with eight points.
Setting the pace for Howard was a quartet of scorers, led by Gia Thorpe with a game-high 20 points, Iyanna Warren with 18 points, Krislyn Marsh with 15 and Ayonna Williams with 12. Makayla Minett led the Bison with 11 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half was a a nip-and-tuck affair early, with Howard holding a two-point edge, 10-8, after one quarter. Cold shooting by FAMU in the second stanza gave the Bison room to run, as they went on a 21-11 run to forge a 31-18 lead at the half.
Both teams shot north of 50 percent in the third quarter, with the Bison owning a 23-19 scoring edge, which allowed their edge to grow to 54-38 with the final stanza left.
Howard shot 54 percent to 31 by FAMU in the fourth, allowing the Bison to outpace their hosts, 28-18 and effectively salt the game away.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
^ FAMU finished the game shooting 28.6 percent (20 of 70) to 42.6 by Howard (23 of 54).
^ Neither team had three-point shooting touch Saturday, as FAMU splashed 3 of 21 shots from distance good for a 14.3 percent showing, while Howard splashed just 2 of 8 for 25 percent.
^ FAMU finished with a slight rebounding edge, 49-44, and they also had the turnover lead, 21 to 16, which led to 21 points for the Bison.
WHAT’S NEXT IN LAWSON: Monday evening, the Rattlers will host the Aggies of North Carolina A&T, with tip time set for 6:00 p.m.
