Norfolk, VA—In a season filled with numerous challenges and more ups than downs, the Howard University women's basketball team may have a chance to erase it all in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament at the Norfolk Scope Arena.
The Bison (7-23) face Hampton University (13-16), the Number 3 seed at 12 noon today. The winner will advance to Friday's semifinal where they will take on North Carolina A&T, the Number 2 seed.
Howard's record is not indicative of its talent, but the Lady Bison have had problems getting consistency all season due to personal issues and injuries.
But they may have found something in Monday's 68-51 win over Maryland Eastern Shore in the opening round. Howard got a strong second half performance from senior center Victoria Gonzales and red-shirt junior guard Te'Shya Heslip and timely contributions from senior guard Imani Bailey, junior forward Sydni Johnson and junior guard Jasmine Hill.
A first team All-MEAC selection, Gonzales was a force with her scoring (17 points) and her rebounding (9).
Heslip, who led all scorers with 22, was able to get the Bison in transition, allowing Howard to pull out the win over the Lady Hawks, who swept them during the regular season.
In the Lady Pirates, the Bison face a huge challenge. Hampton has won five of the last six tournaments and, in addition to pedigree, they have the MEAC Player of the Year, Malia Tate DeFreitas. The talented guard led the conference in scoring (20.7 points) and ranked in the Top 10 in several categories.
Another player who has hurt Howard is sophomore guard K'Lynn Willis and Kaylah Lupoe.
In the Bison win over Hampton in Washington, DC that snapped the 13-game strangehold, it was Heslip who proved to the difference with her first career triple double of 22 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists.
Gonzales did not play in that game, but Bailey, Johnson, Hill and reserve red-shirt sophomore forward Erin Blaine all contributed in the thrilling overtime affair.
Hampton returned the favor two weeks later in Hampton and pulled away to a 77-48 win in the second half. It was Willis this time as she scored a career-high 31 points to go along with Tate-DeFreitas' 16 points and 13 rebounds. Gonzales was the only player to reach double figures with 11.
Click the link for game notes: /documents/2016/3/10//FINAL_Hampton_Notes.pdf?id=426
