WASHINGTON, D.C. – Despite leading Howard at halftime the Norfolk State women's basketball team fell short to the Lady Bison, 56-45, on Monday night in Burr Gymnasium.

NSU fell to 0-4 in the MEAC and 2-13 on the season while Howard improved to 3-1 in the conference and 8-7 overall.

Howard got on the board early with a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers by Kara Smith with 19:07 left in the first half to lead the Spartans, 6-0.

Senior Batavia Owen made the layup with 16:44 remaining before halftime as NSU continued to trail the Lady Bison, 8-4.

A jumper by Saadia Doyle, who led all scorers with 26 points and seven rebounds, with 10:50 left in the half would put the Lady Bison up 14-8.

From there a layup by Kristian Parker with 7:18 left remaining before halftime would cap a 6-0 run for the Spartans as they led Howard, 16-14.

Cheyenne Brown would score Howard's last points of the half as the Lady Bison went into halftime trailing NSU, 26-25.

Sophomore Ebony Brown made a layup with 10:54 left to keep NSU within four as they trailed Howard, 37-33.

From there the Lady Bison went on a 12-2 run as Doyle banked a couple free throws with 2:58 remaining in the half to give Howard a 49-35 lead over the Spartans.  Doyle shot 15-of-22 from the free throw line.

NSU's last points of game came from Kashay Barnes as she drained a 3-pointer with 1:09 left in regulation. The Spartans only shot 30.0 (3-of-10) from behind the arc. The Spartans shot 38.1 (16-of-42) percent on the night and held Howard to 31.1 (14-of-45) percent shooting.

Barnes led NSU with 14 points and three steals.  Rachel Gordon nearly had a double-double but finished the game with eight points and 11 rebounds.

Up next the Spartans will play three consecutive home games beginning on Jan. 19 when they face Coppin State at 4 p.m. in Joseph Echols Hall.