CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA --- Despite a combined 29 points and 12 rebounds from forwards Cheyenne Brown and Sydni Johnson, the Howard University women's basketball team lost its third straight game, falling 74-53 to the University of Virginia on Sunday evening at JPJ Arena.

Brown scored 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting and nearly posted a double-double by grabbing eight rebounds. The senior's scoring total was her fourth double-figure effort in a row. Johnson shot 5-of-11 from the field to net 14 points and added four rebounds of her own, bouncing back from a two-point showing at home against Temple on December 18. The pair also registered three steals and a block each.

Redshirt sophomore guard Te'Shya Heslip's seven-game streak of double-digit scoring games was snapped in tonight's game after foul trouble limited her to nine points. Heslip also pulled down six rebounds and dished out a game-high six assists.

While Howard (1-11) showed promise in spots, their Achilles' heel of early inconsistent play once again hindered them against Virginia (9-2). The Lady Bison gave up a quick 6-0 run to open the game and found themselves down double digits by the 6:24 mark of the half before conceding a 35-21 deficit at the break. 

HU fell behind due to a mixture of poor first-half shooting (.270 - second-worst mark this season; 0-14 from three-point range) and a large foul disparity (11 to UVA's 4). Howard would make 1-of-2 free throws, in comparison to the Cavaliers' 8-of-10 mark.

The Lady Bison also committed 24 turnovers as a team, logging 20 or more turnovers for the third consecutive game after only doing so once in the previous nine (27 in the season opener at UNC).

NEXT UP: Howard gets a week's rest before it travels to Iowa State for the ISU Cyclone Challenge from December 29-30. HU will face the host Cyclones on the 29th before taking on either Brown or UC Riverside on the 30th.