Box Score WASHINGTON, DC --- Redshirt freshman guard Te'Shya Heslip and sophomore center Victoria Gonzalez led another valiant effort against the top team in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference but once again fell slightly short of victory as the Howard Lady Bison lost to the Hampton Lady Pirates, 59-52, on Saturday evening in Burr Gymnasium.

Howard's (10-15, 6-6 MEAC) leading scorers combined for 21 points (Heslip 11, Gonzalez 10) and 13 rebounds (Heslip 9, Gonzalez 4) while shooting 45 percent (9-for-20) from the field. Heslip led the team in scoring and rebounding for the fourth time this season while scoring in double digits in her fourth straight game- tying her second-longest streak of the season. Gonzalez put up 10+ points for the third time in four games.

Freshman forward Sydni Johnson chipped in eight points while graduate student forward Shavonne Duckett and freshman guard Jasmine Hill each had seven.

Howard opened the game by combatting Hampton's first four points with an 8-1 run of their own to take an 8-5 lead at the 14:14 mark of the first half. Although the Lady Pirates outscored Howard 24-11 over the final 11:49 of the period, HU was able to cut Hampton's lead to one point on five different occasions during that stretch.

An 8-0 Howard run to begin the second half put even more pressure on Hampton (22-4, 13-0 MEAC) as their lead was trimmed to two (29-27) with 18:11 remaining in the game. The league-leading Pirates responded by outscoring HU 19-12 over the next seven and a half minutes to push their cushion back to nine points, 48-39, with 10:22 to go.

Howard would get as close as three (48-45) thanks to a quick 6-0 run but simply could not find a why to get over the hump and surpass the Pirates.

The inability to string together scores when close seemed to be in direct relation to the absence of junior forward Cheyenne Brown, whose recent shooting prowess was severly missed as she sat out tonight's game with a foot injury.

The Lady Bison will look to rebound on Monday, February 24 as Howard welcomes Norfolk State to "The Burr." Tip-off for the matchup is scheduled for 5:30 pm and the contest is slated as HU's "Think Pink" game.