Box Score NORFOLK, Va. – The trio of Saadia Doyle, Tamoria Holmes and Zykia Brown combined for 61 points to lead Howard to a 73-50 victory over the Norfolk State women's basketball team Monday evening in MEAC play at Joseph Echols Hall.

Doyle had 25 points, while Holmes and Brown each tallied 18 as the Howard offense hit an efficient 26-of-57 (45.6 percent) from the floor. Cheyenne Curley-Payne had a big part in that as well, as she finished with 11 assists on the night.

The Bison forced NSU to commit 14 first-half turnovers and held the Spartans to a 17-of-55 night (30.9 percent) from the floor, including just 16 points in the first half. The win marked the 10th in the last 11 games for Howard, which moved to 11-6 overall, 3-1 in conference play. NSU fell to 7-8, 2-2 on the year.

Senior Whitney Long had a team-high 14 points, all in the second half, while sophomore Rae Corbo tallied 12 points and four assists. Sophomore Rachel Gordon added a game-high 10 rebounds, eight in the first stanza, with nine points and three steals.

Doyle hit 10-of-18 from the floor, with a perfect 5-of-5 effort from the free throw line. Howard made all 15 of its shots from the charity stripe, while NSU was 14-of-19.

Junior Batavia Owens got NSU on the board first with a bucket down low on the Spartans' second possession of the game, but after junior Recca Trice sank a jumper for a 6-4 lead, the Bison went on a 16-2 run over the next eight and a half minutes to go up by a 20-8 margin. Doyle scored the first 13 points of the game for Howard.

Freshman Ebony Brown nailed a shot from just inside the 3-point line at the 5:02 mark to end a 10-minute scoring drought from the floor for NSU, but the Spartans hit just two other field goals the rest of the half as Howard led at the break, 33-16.

Doyle had 15 points at the half, while Zykia Brown added a trio of 3-pointers in the last 4:16 of the first stanza for nine points.

Howard stretched the lead to 22, 43-21, two and a half minutes into the second half, before Corbo hit a pair of free throws and then completed a traditional three-point play to make it 43-26 with 15:55 on the scoreboard. Long scored seven straight points for NSU during a short stretch, and Gordon added a pair of baskets, the latter at the 7:57 mark, as NSU's offense started to find some life.

The Spartans, though, went another four minutes without a bucket until Long nailed a long-range shot. NSU made just two baskets after Gordon's make at the 7:57 mark, both by Long.

Howard hit 6-of-17 from long range for the game and held a 35-34 edge in rebounds.

NSU will hit the road next weekend for its first conference games away from Echols this season, as the Spartans play at Morgan State and Coppin State next Saturday and Monday.