EMMITSBURG, MD --- A milestone performance from senior center
Victoria Gonzales propelled the Howard women's basketball team to its second straight victory.
Gonzales, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) scoring leader, erupted for a career-high 33 points to lead the Bison to a 62-49 win over Mount St. Mary's on Saturday afternoon at The Mount's Knott Arena.
The Atlanta native shot 15-of-24 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line to surpass her previous benchmark of 26 points against LIU Brooklyn on November 22. Gonzales' 15 made field goals also set a career best and her .625 field goal percentage tied her season high.
The last time a Howard player scored 30 or more points was on November 18, 2014 when then redshirt-sophomore guard
Te'Shya Heslip netted a career-high 32 points in Howard's home opener against New Hampshire.
Even with missing a game due to injury, Gonzales has scored in double figures in all ten games she has played this year.
Junior forward
Sydni Johnson extended her own double-digit scoring streak to eight games with a 21-point effort for Howard (2-9) against Mount St. Mary's (2-7).
Howard led 4-0 early and 13-8 late into the first quarter but the Mountaineers rattled off a 9-0 run over the final two minutes to jump in front of the Bison, 17-13, heading into the second quarter.
From that point on, it was all Howard.
After Mount St. Mary's went up 21-17 with 7:34 left in the second, the Bison put together its most dominating stretch of basketball this season. HU would proceed to go on a 10-minute, 22-0 run from the point of the Mountaineers' last basket through the beginning of the third quarter. Overall, the Bison outscored its hosts 22-4 in the period, giving HU its biggest quarter point differential (+18) and best opponent scoring output (4 points) of the year.
Both teams played it close in the second half (Howard outscored by one in second half) but HU's second quarter surge proved to be too much for the Mountaineers to overcome.
Senior guard Allese Morris scored six points in her first game back from injury, f
reshman forward Kiana Thomas grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots for the second consecutive contest and sophomore guard
Tajzhane Dopson led all players with nine rebounds.
NEXT UPHoward will face Old Dominion on Tuesday, December 15 in Burr Gymnasium. Tipoff for Howard's final home game of 2015 is scheduled for 5 p.m.
