Washington, DC--Destiny Howell came out a slump in a big way and at the right time, pouring in a career-high 34 points to lead Howard University to an 83-70 win over American University in a women's non-conference game at Bender Arena. The win snapped a five-game losing skid for the Bison (2-5).

"I was glad to see the team find some success tonight," said a relieved Howard Head Coach Ty Grace.  "After some tough losses and shooting woes, we gained some much-needed confidence from tonight's win. Destiny showed up and showed out offensively and I know she needed that boost of confidence as well. It was a solid team win."

Howard jumped out to an early 17-12 first quarter lead and then increased it 46-31 at the half, mostly due to Howell's 23 points. Graduate transfer guard Aziah Hudson helped the cause with 11 points. 

But American (0-6) refused to quit and put together a rally that cut the deficit to 70-64 with a little over six minutes to play in the fourth quarter. From there, Howell went back to work, scoring eight of her team's 13 points--including back-to-back 3-pointers-- during a two-minute stretch. With junior guard Kaiya Creek scoring five points during that stretch, the Bison opened an 82-64 lead to essentially put the game away.

"I haven't been shooting well throughout the season," admitted Howell. "Tonight, my teammates seeing that I was hot kept feeding me, running plays through me, and trying to get me the ball. So you know I couldn't do it without them."

Howard came into the game averaging only 52 points while shooting 25-percent from the field and 15-percent from beyond the arc in the past three games. Howell, a first team All-MEAC preseason first team selection, had missed 34 of the shots she took during that stretch. But whatever it was that affected the 5-11 sharpshooter, it left the building in this important win for Howard. For the game, she connected on 13-of-21, including 5-of-10 from downtown while adding three assists, four rebounds and three steals to her stat line.

Hudson finished with 13 points while Creek scored all five of her points during the key stretch. Junior forward Brooklynn Fort-Davis finished with seven points and five rebounds.

"Contribution from anyone on the team is important," Grace noted. "Kaiya and Aziah stepped up along with Kaniyah (Harris), Brooklyn and Nyla Cooper. When we have good balance and we defend, we give ourselves a good chance to win." 

American was led by Emily Johns with 23 in a losing cause.

Noted Grace, "We knew they had some good shooters, so we made sure we knew where they were, contested their shots and made them a little uncomfortable. Thankfully they missed more than they made."

NEXT UP: Howard hosts Elon on Friday, Dec. 2, Education Day, at 7 pm in Burr. Elementary and middle school students will be admitted free to the game.