Women's Basketball 1/12/2008 5:00:00 AM MEAC Media Relations

Daniels Basket Lifts Howard Past Florida A&M, 73-72

Tamaya Daniels scored the go-ahead basket with 2.2 seconds remaining to help Howard complete a comeback and edge Florida A&M, 73-72 in a MEAC women’s game at Burr Gymnasium. The win snapped a 13-game losing streak dating back to last season and gave the Lady Bison their first win of the season.

Howard (1-12 overall, 1-1 in the MEAC), which trailed by as many as 14 points, clawed its way back several times, getting to within 5 on four different occasions, only to have the Lady Rattlers (9-4 overall, 1-1 in the MEAC) answer each time to keep the pressure on.

After Florida A&M took a 69-59 lead on a Denise Tate put-back, the Lady Bison began to make their move. Reyna Gross, who scored all of her 10 points in the second half, hit a short jumper and converted two free throws to cut the lead to 69-63 at the 4:59 mark.

Shannon Carlisle added two free throws and Daniels scored on a lay-up to get within 69-67. Stephanie Foster scored two of her game-high 21 points to extend the lead to 71-67 at the 1:29 mark.

Carlisle canned two more free throws 12 seconds later to again get to within two at 71-69.

Following a Lady Rattlers’ turnover, Gross nailed a 12 footer to tie the game at 71-all with 21 seconds on the clock. Foster made one of two free throws to give Florida A&M a brief 72-71 lead with 9 ticks on the clock. Howard quickly got the ball up the floor and Ashee Santee found Daniels under the basket for what would prove to be the game-winning shot. The Lady Rattlers were unable to get off a shot as the buzzer sounded and the celebration began.

“It feels great,” said Daniels who always seems to play well against Florida A&M. “We’ve been working so hard to get over the hump. Asha had a look at the basket but she gave it up to me. All I had to do was finish.”

Howard trailed 40-32 at the half as it turned the ball over 14 times, allowing the Lady Rattlers to convert them into 11 points. In the second half, the Lady Bison took better care of the ball (only 5 turnovers) and got some balanced scoring from Gross, Carlisle (14 points) and Santee (16 points, 9 in the second half).

“We made some adjustments at halftime,” said a relieved Coach Cathy Parson. “We talked about the things we were trying to execute and if people weren’t doing it the way we asked, then we got them a substitution. We began to do some of the things that we have talked about all season. It’s up from here. We just have to stay together as a team.”

Daniels recorded a double-double with 12 rebounds while also adding three blocks to her day’s work. In addition to Foster, the Lady Rattlers got 13 points and 14 rebounds from Denise Tate and 13 and 10 points from Joslyne Jackson and Q’Vaunda Curry respectively.

NEXT UP: Florida A&M travels to Hampton, VA to take on the Lady Pirates of Hampton on Monday at 6 p.m. while the Lady Bison will try to continue their streak when they host Bethune-Cookman at 6 p.m. on Monday in Burr Gymnasium.