PITTSBURGH, PA --- Junior forward Sydni Johnson led a trio of Howard women's basketball players who had standout performances in the Bison's 86-62 loss to Duquesne University on Tuesday evening at the Palumbo Center.
 
Johnson stepped up in the absence of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) scoring leader Victoria Gonzales to set a new career high with 23 points and log her fifth career double-double with a season-best 10 rebounds.
 
The 6-0 native of Homewood, IL was extremely efficient in her scoring – she shot 50 percent from the floor (8-of-16) and 86 percent from the free throw line (6-of-7). Coupled with her 7-of-13 (.538) effort at home vs LIU Brooklyn on Sunday, and Johnson hold two of HU's three best shooting performances of the young season.
 
Johnson's previous high in points came in a 20-point outing against Morgan State on January 31, 2015.
 
Freshman center Kiana Thomas and freshman guard Shaylon Tarver also had noteworthy games for the Bison (0-5) in defeat. Thomas scored ten points and pulled down ten rebounds to record the first double-double of her young career. Tarver came off the bench to score a season-high 15 points, the most by a Howard guard so far this season.
 
Redshirt freshman guard Essence Brown nearly matched her three teammates in double figures, settling for nine points to go along with five rebounds - both season highs for the District native.
 
Duquesne (3-1) put Howard in an early 10-0 hole before Johnson snapped the run with a layup at the 5:48 mark of the first quarter. The Bison would fall behind by as much as 17 points (26-9) in the opening minutes of the second before outscoring the Dukes 22-14 to close the half only down 40-31. Johnson, Tarver and Brown keyed HU's surge in the quarter, scoring 18 of the team's 22 points.
 
However, Gonzales' missing 20 points per game combined with Duquesne's second-half long distance shooting proved to be too much for the Bison to overcome. Howard held the Dukes to 1-of-10 shooting from behind the arc in the first half but allowed Duquesne to shoot 5-of-8 from three in the 3rd quarter alone en route to a 7-of-12 second half.
 
NEXT UP
Howard will head to Atlanta after Thanksgiving to compete in the Georgia State Thanksgiving Classic from November 28-29. The Bison will face GSU on Saturday and Mercer on Sunday; both games are scheduled to tipoff at 1 p.m.