Women's Basketball

Washington, DC—November 26—Krystel Vaughn came off the bench to score 12 of her game-high 19 points in the second half and LaKea Jones added 8 of her 11 after intermission to help Virginia Commonwealth University pull away to an 89-66 win over Howard University in a non-conference women’s game at Burr Gymnasium.

            Vaughn was a perfect 6 for 6 from the field, tallying 12 of the Rams points during a 14-0 run midway through the second half that saw VCU increase a three-point lead to 72-55.

            While Vaughn was doing most of her damage around the basket and in transition, Jones got her points from the free throw line, connecting on six of seven to keep the Lady Bison at bay when they tried to make runs.

            Howard (0-3) played the visits close and held small leads on several occasions in the first half before VCU (3-0) used a late surge to take a 42-32 lead at halftime.  It was led by Quanitra Hollingsworth, who tallied 13 of her 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

            But the Lady Bison came out with a sense of purpose and put together a 16-4 run that reduced the deficit to 58-55.

            Melloni Benson scored her of her team-high 14 points and Shannon Carlisle and Ebony Lacey each added six during the run.

            “Howard rattled us with their full-court pressure,” said VCU head coach Beth Cunningham.  “They were able to force some turnovers and convert them at the other end.  But I told the team to settle down.  Then we were able to do a better job of handling the press and we got some easy baskets.”

            The Rams shot 63 percent in the second half and maintained a 38-12 advantage on points-in-the-paint.  The Lady Bison were able to connect on 10 of 30 from three-point range.

            Howard will try to get in the win column when it hosts Louisiana Lafayette on Friday at 7 p.m. in Burr Gymnasium.

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