Dover, Del. (Dec. 3, 2012) -- MEAC preseason favorite Howard forced Delaware State into 24 turnovers and 35% shooting in a 54-40 victory over the Lady Hornets in Memorial Hall this evening.
Howard improved to 4-4 overall and 1-0 in the MEAC. The loss snapped a two-game win streak for DSU, which fell to 2-4 and 1-1.
Howard's Saadia Doyle, the 2012-13 MEAC Preseason Player-of-the-Year, led all players with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Deanna Harmon led the Lady Hornets with 16 points, while Tierra Hawkins added 15. Hawkins also tied for the team high with seven rebounds.
"Howard's poise and experience were keys in the game," said Delaware State first-year head coach Tamika Louis. "We are a young team; and our inexperience showed at critical times in the game. As a young team, we are going have some ups and downs during the season. Hopefully, we will use this as a learning experience in our development this season."
Delaware State led 3-2 before Howard took control. The Bison scored 15 of the next 17 points, and opened up a 17-5 lead on a lay-up by Cheyenne Curly-Payne with 9:09 left in the first half. The Lady Hornets committed 13 turnovers and missed two of three shots from the floor during the Howard spurt.
Howard opened up biggest first half lead, 20-7, on a three-point shot by Jerrelle Gorham with 6:25 to go before intermission.
The Lady Hornets pulled to within eight points in the latter part of the half, and trailed 24-15 at the break.
Howard led 29-18 before Delaware State staged a comeback attempt. The Lady Hornets ran off seven straight points, and cut the Bison's lead to 29-25 on two free throws by Hawkins with 15:36 left in the game. Keyanna Tate nailed a jumper and Harmon knocked down DSU's only three-point basket of the game during the spurt.
The Lady Hornets trailed 31-27 when Howard began to pull away again. Portia Deterville capped off a 9-2 Bison run with a free throw to give her team a 40-29 lead with 6:12 remaining.
Delaware State could get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
The Lady Hornets were 12-of-34 from the field (35.3%), including one-for-two on three point shots. Howard hit 19 of its 45 shots (42.2%) from the floor. The Bison were two-of-seven from beyond the arc.
Delaware State held a 30-23 rebound advantage. The Lady Hornets had 10 offensive rebounds, leading to 10 points.
DSU returns to action on Saturday (Dec. 8) in a non-conference game at NJIT. Game time is 2:00 p.m. in Newark, N.J.
