DOVER, DE -- Howard's Anzhane' Hutton strong season continues as she recorded her fifth double-double of the season, as the Bison defeated the Lady Hornets, 72-64 Saturday evening at the Alumni
Howard improves to 13-3 and 8-2 in the MEAC, while Delaware St. falls to 3-11 and 2-7 in the MEAC.
HOW IT HAPPEN
Delaware State swarmed Howard early, jumping out to a 9-0 lead to start the game; the Lady Hornets extended the lead to 15-5 at the 4:17 mark, when Howard's Iyanna Warren [Accokeek, MD] knocked down a jumper at the 3:14 mark to spark a 12-1 run to close out the first quarter leading, 17-16.
Howard continued the momentum into the second quarter, opening the second stanza on a 13-3 run, cemented by a Makayla Minett (Chicago, Ill) jumper to extend the lead 30-19 at the 3:41 mark. Delaware State stopped the bleeding with a long-range shot, which sparked a 7-2 run to close out the half, with the Bison leading 34-26.
In the second half, the Bison and Lady Hornets played an even half, allowing Howard to cruise to their fourth straight victory, one game closer to a north division title, and the ever-important number one seed the 2021 U.S. Air Force Reserve MEAC Basketball Tournament.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Hutton recorded her fifth double-double season, scoring a season-high 18 points and brought down 11 rebounds.
- Destiny Howell (10) and Warren (12) joined Hutton in double figures.
- Warren has scored in double-figures in six straight games.
- Jayla Thornton has knocked in a three-pointer in 15-of-16 games this season
- Bison fourth consecutive win ties a season-high
- Howard bench outscored Delaware State 27-13
WORDS FROM HEAD COACH TY GRACE
Opening Statement:
"...Like I said before, Delaware is another tough game that we come into; we know that none of the teams in the MEAC are going to back down or lay down to teams; we knew it was going to be challenging, but the team was resilient, we started a bit slow, but came up with the win..."
Thoughts on overcoming a slow start:
"It was the beginning of the game; I did not want to get rattle; I did not want the team to get rattle. We just had to settle down, we had a lot of slow starts, not that I like them, but I knew that it was too early to get all frazzled and upset; we just stayed the course and made a small run..."
Thoughts on 12-2 run:
"... We were ok. We need to settle down and defend. We were turning the ball over in cases where we wouldn't normally. So we settled, we told them to be patient offensively, and we started knocking down some shots, and our defense turned up a bit..."
Did Delaware do anything different from before or the fiesty team they are?
Just the fiesty them are, they are very scrappy and aggressive, they have a lot of energy especially when they make runs, they play off each other, which makes them scary. They didn't do anything differently; they were who they were, they played hard the entire game, they never quit.
On Hutton double-double
"... I mean, she pretty consistent. Even when she's off, she still plays hard, she still tries to rebound even when she is not scoring, but tonight again, she stayed on the boars and got the ball inside and was very effective around the basket..."
On freshmen stepping up after Thornton early foul trouble
"... I always talk about be ready when the opportunity presents itself; opportunity comes in different spurts and different games. They are always prepared; one of them seems to be always step up and step into the role as you will say when we need them, have a balance and be ready, and have done that all season.
One game left, Morgan St. won their game, so we need to continue winning to pull out the division title; what did you tell the team.
We just have to solidify the weekend. We knew what was at stake coming in, even from last week. We talked about solidifying the weekend, tomorrow it's Delaware State senior night, and we know that teams try to play at a different level for their seniors. Still, we have to come in and play our game and stick to the goals and purpose and make sure we come out with the win..."
UP NEXT:
Howard concludes the regular season versus Delaware State. If the Bison wins, they are the number one seed; if they lose, they have to watch Morgan State the rest of the way.
