Women's Basketball

Howard Holds Off FAMU For Home Win

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Washington, DC-February 20-Shari Johnson scored 10 of her career-high 16 points in the second half and Christina Aden added 9 of her 12 after intermission to help Howard University edge Florida A&M University, 64-62 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference women's game at Burr Gymnasium.

The Lady Bison (12-11 overall, 9-5 in the MEAC) appeared to be in control of the game after they opened a 52-36 lead with a little more over 10 minutes left in regulation.  But the Lady Rattlers (9-15 overall, 5-10 in the MEAC) put together a 20-8 run and reduced the deficit to 60-56 with 1:35 remaining.

Howard, which has now won four of its last five, re-grouped and got a key basket from Johnson and two free throws from Aden sandwiched around a layup by Ifeoma Onuaku (25 points, 13 rebounds) and two free throws by Denise Tate (14 points, 16 rebounds).

Brittany James of the Lady Bison had a chance to seal the win, but missed two free throws with 13 seconds remaining and gave the Lady Rattlers an opportunity to tie or win.  But FAMU failed on two shot attempts at the end and Howard managed to escape for the second straight game.

"Shari gave us a huge lift in the second half, no doubt about it," said Howard Coach Cathy Parson.  "And Christina Aden hit what I thought was a big three pointer late that gave us some breathing room."

The Lady Bison had problems containing the Lady Rattlers' front line of Onuaku and Tate.  Onuaku was especially dominating, connecting on 12 of 22 from the field and grabbing 13 boards.

"They have an impressive front court," praised Coach Parson.  "She (Onuaku) hurt us big-time when we played them down there (a 75-67 FAMU win)."

The Lady Rattlers turned the ball over 29 times and shot only 33 percent, but were able to stay close due to a whopping, 65-41 advantage in rebounding, including 29-17 on the offensive glass.  Stephanie Foster contributed to the comeback, scoring all 10 of her points in the second half.

GAME NOTES: Melloni Benson continues to make a strong case for All-MEAC honorsthe 6-2 junior forward finished with 6 points and 6 rebounds, but she blocked 3 shots, making it 10 in the past two gamesEbony Lacey recorded 7 stealsCourtney Smiley came off the bench to score 9 points, grab 6 rebounds and get 4 steals in 17 productive minutesFAMU missed all 15 of its shots from beyond the arcHoward did not fare much better, missing 19 of 22 attempts.

NEXT UP:  The Lady Rattlers host Delaware State next Saturday while the Lady Bison take on first place Coppin State University at 2 p.mthe Lady Eagles have yet to lose in the conference this season.

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