WASHINGTON, DC --- Senior center Victoria Gonzales was one of three Howard women's basketball players to score in double digits but the trio's efforts were not enough to propel the Bison past the Old Dominion University Lady Monarchs in a 83-64 defeat Tuesday evening at Burr Gymnasium.

Gonzales (game-high 19 points), junior forward Sydni Johnson (17 points) and freshman guard Shaylon Tarver (13 points) were the primary reasons Howard (2-10) remained within striking distance of Old Dominion (3-6) until late in the fourth quarter of HU's final home contest of 2015.

Howard and ODU played a 12-12 first quarter that saw the Bison take its biggest lead of the game (10-6) on a fastbreak score by sophomore guard Tajzhane Dopson at the midway point.

Another basket by Dopson gave Howard game HU a one-point lead (34-33) with under 25 seconds to go in the second before a late layup put ODU ahead by one at the half, 35-34.

ODU worked to separate Howard in the second half but couldn't extend its lead past ten points until the last minutes of the fourth quarter.

Gonzales led the Bison in scoring for the ninth time in 12 games while extending her personal streak of double-digit scoring games to eleven. Johnson used the team's best field goal percentage (.636, 7-of-11) to set her scoring tally while Tarver did the same from the free throw line (.857, 6-of-7).

NEXT UP
Howard will travel to Ohio to face Xavier University on Saturday, December 19 at 5 p.m.