SYRACUSE, NY --- Senior center Victoria Gonzales and freshman guard Shaylon Tarver led the way for the Howard women's basketball team in its final game of 2015, a 97-48 loss to the Syracuse Orange Wednesday evening at the Carrier Dome.

The Atlanta-area duo combined for 32 points, with Gonzales pacing the Bison (2-12) with 18 points and Tarver knocking down all four of HU's three pointers en route to 14 points.

Gonzales, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) leader in scoring, now sits at 967 career points - 33 away from the 1,000 plateau.

Tarver notched her sixth double digit scoring effort in 14 games by scoring 11 of her 14 in the first half and matching redshirt freshman Essence Brown's season high with her four makes from long distance.

Sophomore guard Tajzhane Dopson nearly matched her career high scoring mark by chipping in eight points while sophomore guard Hannah Timmons exceeded her career best with six points off the bench.

Howard struggled all game to take care of the ball game against the full court pressure of Syracuse (9-3). The Orange forced the Bison into a season-worst 35 turnovers, including a Howard opponent high 26 steals. HU also posted its second-lowest assist tally of the year, setting up only six made shots.

Syracuse's defense also held Howard second-leading scorer Sydni Johnson scoreless for the first time since March 12, 2014 against Hampton in the MEAC Tournament.

NEXT UP
Howard will begin 2016 with its final non-conference game, a home contest against Cornell University on Saturday, January 2 at 2 p.m. in Burr Gymnasium.