NORFOLK, Va. - The Howard University Bison upended the Eagles of North Carolina Central University 69-56 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Women's Basketball Tournament semifinal game. Iyanna Warren led all scorers with 23 points, converting 11-of-13 free throws to lead the way.
Howard seniors led the way as MEAC second team all conference's Iyanna Warren finished with 23 points, six rebounds and three assists. Kaiya Creek was the team second leading scorer with 19 points.
Warren was also one of three Howard players with six rebounds each to lead Coach Ty Grace's team on the boards in the triumph that lifted the Bison to 15-15 on the season and sent them into Saturday's finals against top-seeded Norfolk State, a 73-44 winner over Coppin State. Tipoff is 4p.m.
Janiah Jones had 11 points while Morgan Callahan finished with ten for NC.. Central which finished its year at 8-22. Callahan also had a game-high 10 boards in the loss.
The Lady Eagles earlier swept the regular-season series against Howard, winning 79-76 at home and 70-64 in overtime at Washington, DC.
The Bison, behind 13 first-half points by Creek and 11 by Warren, took a 34-27 lead to the locker room. The Eagles led 8-7 after a 3-pointer by Kyla Bryant with 5:32 on the first period clock, but Howard closed the period out with a 14-7 run to lead 21-15 after one. A 16-11 second period sent the Bison to the break ahead by seven.
Callahan got the first basket of the third period to pull the Eagles to within 34-29 before Howard, behind the scoring of Creek and Warren, scored 16 of the final 24 points of the quarter to build a 13 point, 50-37 advantage entering the final period. Warren had eight points and Creek four during the run.
The final period was closely contested with Howard outscoring NCCU 19-18 for the final margin. Howard's Coach Grace lauded the play of Warren and also credited Creek for stepping up big in the win. "Iyanna was the best player on the court today," said Grace. "She puts us in situations that allow us to be effective. And, I'd like to note the play of some of our younger players as well as Kiaya (Creek), one of our veterans who add depth to our squad."
Eagle Coach Terrence Baxter, referenced the fact that his team had triumphed over Howard twice during the regular season but noted Grace's Bison made some changes in strategy on Friday. "Anytime you allow the opposing team to shoot 37 free throws and you turn the ball over 25 times, it is hard to win," Baxter said. "We defeated them twice in close games during the regular season but they switched up a bit on defense today, using a 2-3 zone that caused us problems."
Grace also stated that her team was looking forward to playing top-seeded Norfolk State on Saturday. "It's always good going against Norfolk State," she said. "Coach (Larry) Vickers is one of the top coaches in our league and beyond, and I have a great deal of respect for him. They bring out the best in us.
Howard and the Spartans will be meeting in the MEAC finals for the third straight season. Norfolk earned the title and a trip to the NCAA's last year after Howard had triumphed in 2022.
The No. 2 seeded Bison will face the top-seeded Spartans in the Women's Championship game scheduled for 4PM on Saturday, March 16 for the tournament championship trophy.
The match up will be the third consecutive year that Norfolk State and Howard will face off for the MEAC trophy and the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Championship Tournament.
