Norfolk, VA—Te'Shya Heslip scored 16 of her team-high 22 points in the second half and Victoria Gonzales added 12 of her 17 after intermission to lead Howard University to a 68-51 win over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in the first round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament at the Norfolk Scope Arena. 

The Bison (7-23), the Number 11 seed, advance to the quarterfinal round against Hampton University, the Number 3 seed on Thursday at 12 noon 

Howard, which was swept by the Lady Hawks during the regular season, got off to a slow start and trailed 19-11 at the end of the first quarter. Then Gonzales and Sydni Johnson led a charge that got their team to within 28-27 at intermission. 

In the third quarter, Howard took control as Heslip began to score on short pull-up jumpers while Jasmine Hill, Imani Bailey and Johnson took turns scoring that resulted in a 20-11 third quarter advantage that gave the Bison a 47-39 lead. 

"Today we stuck to the game plan," said Howard first year head Coach Ty Grace. "We lost to them twice to the regular season so we wanted to take away some of the things they like to do offensively. The team did a god job sticking to the game plan." 

UMES (12-17), the Number 6 seed, aided the Bison as they went cold from the field, missing 27 shots, many of them from close range. Turnovers were also a problem for UMES as they committed 22 for the game that resulted in 16 Howard points. 

Howard isolated Heslip and looked inside for Gonzales and the duo proved to be too much down the stretch. One of the top free throw shooting teams in the conference, Howard knocked down 11 of 14 in the second half for 79 percent. 

UMES held an advantage on the boards at 50-42, but they committed 22 turnovers and missed 20 of 24 from beyond the arc. 

The Lady Hawks got 22 from Moengaroa Subritzky, a first team All-MEAC pick, and 10 from Ciani Byrom, a member of the All-Rookie team. 

In addition to Heslip and Gonzales, a first team All-MEAC selection, Howard got 11 from Hill, 10 points and 8 rebounds from Johnson, who was selected to the All-MEAC second team. 

Howard and Hampton met during the regular season and split, each winning on its home court. The Bison won in overtime in Washington, DC. The Lady Pirates returned the favor with a convincing 77-48 win at Hampton, two weeks later. 

"The game against Hampton will be a very competitive game," predicted Grace. "Obviously the last time we played them, it was not a good showing. But we are looking to make this game a dogfight."