Women's Basketball

Howard Notches First Win With Big Second Half

Washington, DC-January 20---Lonice Kenley, Melloni Benson and Asha Santee combined for 24 second half points to help Howard University pull away to an 81-59 win over Bethune-Cookman College in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference women's game at Burr Gymnasium.  The win gave the Lady Bison (1-15 overall, 1-5 in the MEAC) their first win of the season.

            Howard trailed the Lady Wildcats (4-12 overall, 1-6 in the MEAC), 33-31 at the break.  Then Kenley, Benson and Santee triggered a 21-3 run that broke the game open.  Kenley nailed three, three pointers, Benson tallied five and Santee scored six during a 10-minute stretch that opened up a 54-34 Howard lead.

            Bethune-Cookman did not help itself as it committed 30 turnovers for the game and shot a woeful 25 percent from the floor in the first half.

            "In the second half, we switched our defense from the press to a 2-3 matchup," explained Howard coach Cathy Parson.  "They are used to people (opponents) playing zone against them, but I'm not sure that they expected it from us."

            The Lady Bison, who have struggled to get production from their bench all season, finally got some help in that area as the reserves outscored B-CC, 39-11.

            "The bench production was the difference," said Coach Parson.  "Especially point guard Reyna Gross, who had 8 assists and only three turnovers.  That is something we have been lacking."

            After shooting only 28 percent (10 of 35) in the first half, Howard fared much better after intermission, hitting on 42 percent.

            Santee led a balanced attack with 10 points while Benson, Christina Aden, Kenley and Morgan Neal all had nine points.

            The Lady Wildcats were paced by Cassandra Calcagno who led all scorers with 13, all coming in the first half and Tristian McCray, who contributed 12 and 13 rebounds.

NEXT UP:  Howard will try to extend its winning streak when it entertains Florida A&M University on Monday at 6 pm.  The game will be webcast live on http://www.howard-bison.com/.  B-CC travels to Princess Anne, MD to take on the Lady Hawks of Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday at 5:30 pm

• Scoreboard
• Upcoming Games

Multimedia

Meet the Coach