Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Zykia Brown and reigning MEAC Rookie of the Week Saadia Doyle each tallied 17 points to lead the Howard University women's basketball team to a 71-41 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference win over Norfolk State on Monday afternoon at Burr Gymnasium. Doyle added 11 rebounds for her 15th double-double of the year.

Howard (12-12, 7-5 MEAC) got on the board first with a made free throw by Kara Smith with 17:44 left in the first half. But NSU (3-18, 0-12 MEAC) took the lead on a jumper by Marian Brooks (Woodbridge, Va.) 14 seconds later.

The Lady Bison answered on the other end on a jumper by Smith to go up 3-2 with 17:13 left. The Spartans hung around with Howard and were only down by one, 11-10, after a jumper by Whitney Long (Raleigh, N.C.) with 9:05 to go before halftime. But Howard went on a 20-6 to take a 31-16 lead into the break.

In the second half, Howard shot 47.1 percent (16-of-34) and limited NSU to just 25 second-half points. The Lady Bison led by as many as 32, 71-39, before a jumper by Genor Dalton (Martinsville, Va.) with four seconds left closed the gap to 30 and ended the scoring for the game.

Howard shot 43.1 percent (28-of-65) for the game, including 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from 3-point range. The Lady Bison outrebounded NSU 42-30 and forced 18 Spartan turnovers while only committing nine. NSU was 18-of-49 (36.7 percent) from the field and 2-of-13 (15.4 percent) from beyond the arc.

Cheyenne Curley-Payne was the third Lady Bison to score in double figures. She had 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Brown just missed a double-double with nine assists.

Brooks and Long each had 10 points for NSU, while Batavia Owens (Norfolk, Va.) had 11 rebounds.

The Spartans return home for a 4 p.m. matchup with Winston-Salem State on Saturday.