Lady Bison fall again in HU battle
After a disappointing loss to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore last week, the lady Bison looked to shock first place conference rivals Hampton University in a packed out Burr Gymnasium on Saturday. Hampton, who sported an impressive 12-0 MEAC record coming into the battle, was tested but ultimately showed why they sit atop the conference and are the defending MEAC champions., defeating Howard 59-52.
The lady Bison came out the gate matching Hampton shot for shot. It was clear from the beginning that this was going to be a defensive battle as the score sat at just 20-19 with four minutes left in the first half. Hampton turned on the jets late, however, as they finished the first half with a 9-0 run deflating the lady Bison as they headed into halftime down 19-29.
“Hampton is well coached, and they have some pretty good athletes,” said Howard head coach Tennille Adams. “Coach Six has done has done a fantastic job of creating a culture over there where even when they’re not playing their best, you’re still going to get a pretty good game out of them.”
The lady Bison were able to find a lift in the locker room, as they came out in the second half on fire. After a steal and a fast break from redshirt freshman point guard Te’Shya Heslip, and a three pointer drained by freshman shooting guard Jasmine Hill, the lady Bison completed an 8-0 run and cut the Hampton lead down to two.
However, Howard’s offensive jolt was quickly put to rest as Hampton managed to rebuild their lead to 11 midway through the second half. Hampton led 48-39 with nine minutes left in the game, but Howard, refusing to go down without a fight, strung together six straight points including a great fast break defensive steal from Hill to cut Hampton’s lead back down to three with 7:18 left to play.
Despite the offensive surges, Howard was never able to officially take a lead in the second half. Hampton relied on the excellent play of senior forward Alyssa Bennett, who led her team with 18 points, to shut the door on each of Howard’s comeback attempts.
“Our biggest thing is scoring offensively,” Adams said. “The games that we’ve won, we’ve been upwards of 70 points, so the biggest thing for us is being able to score.
With Howard down by five, Heslip drove to the basket and dished the ball to freshman forward Sydni Johnson for a successful lay in, but she was called with a charge; her second of the night. The call put Heslip in foul trouble, and would lead to her fouling out with a minute left in the game.
Down by six, the lady Bison were unable to sink key late shots and loss to Hampton for the second time this season.
“We just couldn’t get the lid off the basket there at the end,” Adams said. “They did a really good job of making shots when they needed to. We had some defensive errors in the end and they took advantage of those.”
Despite the loss, Adams says she was impressed with how her team performed on the defensive side of the ball.
“We played them a lot better defensively than we did the last game,” Adams said. “So I think we’re going to hang our hat on our defense, and we’ll spend the next couple of days making sure we find that rhythm offensively.”
The lady Bison have four key conference match-ups ahead before heading to the MEAC Championships in March. These games will determine Howard’s final seeding in the MEAC tournament. The lady Bison’s next test will come on Monday Feb. 24 against the Spartans of Norfolk State. The game will take place at Burr Gymnasium at 5:30 p.m.