Women's Basketball

Complete Game Notes

Game 10
Howard (0-9) vs. William & Mary (4-4)

Date: Sunday, Dec. 9
Time: 2 p.m. EST
Place: Burr Gymnasium, Washington, D.C.
Series: Series tied 3-3

The Game

The Howard women's basketball team makes its much anticipated home debut with a match-up against the William and Mary Tribe of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The Lady Bison, who has dropped nine straight, fell to Manhattan 76-51 in the consolation game of the Brown Bear Basketball Classic on Nov. 2 in its last time out. Shannon Carlisle paced Howard with 19 points and was the only Bison to receive All-Tourney honors.

William & Mary is 3-4 with victories over Campbell, Penn and Maine. The Tribe defeated Longwood 70-56 in its last time out on Nov. 7 and got 20 points from Kyra Taylor and a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds from Tiffany Benson. 

William & Mary
Probable Starters

Scouting William & Mary
William & Mary is averaging 64.8 points per game in its eight games this season. Opponents are shooting 42% against the Tribe and hold a +3.4 rebound advantage over W&M.

The Bison are coached by Debbie Taylor, who is in her ninth season at William & Mary. She has an 85-144 record at the school and her career as a head coach.

Pounding Pavement
Howard opens up its regular season with nine consecutive games on the road. The Lady Bison kicks off its season when they travel south to face perennial powerhouse Baylor in the Basketball Travelers Classic, hosted by the Bears, on November 9-11. Howard will take on Baylor on November 9, Prairie View A&M on November 10 and St. Mary's (CA) on November 11 during the three-day tournament.

HU is on the road again at Navy on Nov. 14 and takes on Longwood and Campbell at the Longwood Tournament on November 16-17. The Bison takes on non-conference foe Bucknell on November 19 before heading to Providence for the Brown Tournament on December 1-2. Howard makes its much anticipated home debut against William & Mary on Dec. 9.

Double Figures for Shannon
Howard senior guard Shannon Carlisle (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) scored a team-high 19 points during the Bison's 51-76 loss to Manhattan on December 2. It was the seventh-straight game that she has scored at least 10 points.

Defending the Three
Howard held Brown to 1-9 (.111) shooting beyond the arc at Providence on December 1. So far this season, the Bison have held five of its opponents to under five made three-pointers. Opponents are shooting .372 (194-277) from three-point range versus Howard this season.

Bison Picked Eighth in the MEAC
The Howard University women's basketball team has been picked to finish eighth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's annual preseason poll, as voted on by the League's Head Coaches and Sports Information Directors. The announcement was made on October 10 in Raleigh, N.C. as part of the 2007-08 Tip-Off Media Luncheon. Howard received 214 points in the preseason poll. Coppin State was picked first as the Lady Eagles garnered 12 first-place votes with 442 points. CSU was followed by Delaware State (437, nine first-place votes) while North Carolina A&T (356 points) rounds out the top three.

Starters, Seniors Leading the Way
Howard's starters have been a strong point early on and if head coach Cathy Parson can get strong production from her reserves, it will keep the starters' legs fresh as the season wears on.

So far this year, the starters have scored 329 points and account for 74% of the offense, while the senior class has scored 290 points (65% of the offense).

Santee, Carlisle Named to All-Tournament Teams
Asha Santee and Shannon Carlisle have received All-Tournament recognition this season. Santee was named to the Basketball Travelers All-Tournament team on Nov. 11 following a strong weekend at the Baylor hosted tournament while Carlisle garnered All-Tournament honors at the Brown Bear Basketball Classic.

Bison Outscored at the Stripe
A problem Howard has had this year is getting to the free-throw line. The Bison have committed 222 fouls already this year (compared to 168 by opponents), resulting in 277 free throw attempts for Howard's opponents. Opponents are currently 194-277 (.700) from the stripe. Meanwhile, Howard has been to the line just 159 times, converting 94 of them (.591).

Woman of Steal
Shannon Carlisle (4.4 spg) ranks second in the MEAC and 12th in the NCAA in steals per game.

Double Digits
Howard had four players in double figures against Prairie View A&M on November 10 - Asha Santee (19), Reyna Gross (14), Shannon Carlisle (13) and Charae Baulkman (10). It was the first time this season that four players had reached double figures. Three Bison have reached in double figures in three other games this season - vs. Longwood on November 16 (Shannon Carlisle - 24, Asha Santee - 24; Tamaya Daniels - 16); vs. Campbell on November 17 (Shannon Carlisle - 24; Lonice Kenly - 13; Asha Santee - 11); vs. Brown on December 1 (Tamaya Daniels - 18; Asha Santee - 15; Shannon Carlisle - 10).

Whom (Not) to Foul
Howard is shooting 59% as a team from the charity stripe, but three Bison stand out above the pack and shoot the ball exceptionally well. Below is a list of Bison whom Coach Parson wants to have the ball in the waning seconds of a close game:

                                           FT%      FT-FTA
Shannon Carlisle                .846       22-26
Asha Santee                      .778       21-27
Zykia Brown                       .737       14-19

Ball Pressure
The Bison are struggling with turnover problems through the first nine games of the season. HU averages 22.3 turnovers per game and has committed 32, 28, 24, 22 and 21 turnovers. Thirteen different Bison have lost the handle at least twice and the starters have combined for 138 miscues. In the Brown game however, Howard turned the ball over just 12 times to its 13 assists.

Depth Charge
The Bison are very deep as HU sports a roster with eight players that have appeared in all nine contests. Howard's roster also has 10 players that average at least 10 minutes per contest.

Captains
Howard Head Coach Cathy Parson named the team's four seniors - Shannon Carlisle, Reyna Gross, Asha Santee and Terease Thornton - as the team's captains for the 2007-08 season.

Double Your Pleasure
Howard junior center Tamaya Daniels recorded her first double-double of the season in the team's loss at Longwood with 16 points and 11 rebounds. She fell one rebound shy of another double-double in the loss to Brown, tallying 18 points and nine rebounds against the Bears.

On Deck
The Bison has a 19-day break for final exams before playing host to Fairleigh Dickinson of the Northeast Conference at Burr Gymnasium on Dec. 29.