Lady Bulldogs Fall Short 69-65 to Lady Wildcats

ORANGEBURG, SC-The South Carolina State Lady Bulldogs dropped a much needed MEAC contest to the Lady Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman, 69-65, Saturday at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.

SC State falls to 11-12 overall, 6-6 in the MEAC, while Bethune-Cookman improves to 8-16 overall, 5-7 in conference play.

Senior guard Demetria Frank led BC-U with 20 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore forward Kayla Crawford grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and added nine points in the victory.

SC State had four players in double figures with senior forward Tracey Flowers leading the way with 15 points and five rebounds, teammate junior guard Trinese Foxx chipped in 12. Junior Tiara Knotts added 11 and guard Lauren Johnson chipped in 10 in the loss.

SC State had a costly 17 turnovers and was out rebounded 41-31 by Bethune-Cookman on the day.

For the complete story, visit www.bcuathletics.com or www.scsuathletics.com

Lady Rattlers Down Savannah State, 58-45

SAVANNAH, Ga. (Feb. 18) - Florida A&M picked up their 11th MEAC win of the season as they defeated Savannah State, 58-45 Saturday afternoon at Tiger Arena.

This is the first time, that a FAMU Women's Basketball team record 11 conference wins since the 2006-2007 season, when the Lady Rattlers, finished the season 16-16 and 10-8 in conference play.  The most conference win a FAMU team has recorded in a season is 15, when the Lady Rattlers finished the 1996-97 season 20-9 and 15-3  in conference play.

FAMU (18-6, 11-1) had a trio of Lady Rattlers to score in double figures as both Antonia Bennett and Qiana Donald finished with double-double.  Bennett finished the contest with 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Donald tallied 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Tameka McKelton finished with 11 points.

SSU (9-16, 2-10) had a pair of Lady Tigers to scored in double figures as Ezine Kalu finished with a team high 14 points, while Jasmine Norman finished with the contest with 11 points.  Norman led SSU on the boards with five.

The Lady Rattlers would take a 31-18 lead with 2:27  left in the first on a Kimberly Sparkman three pointer, capping a 13-4 run by FAMU.

FAMU  would take a 34-24 lead into a break  as the Lady Rattlers shot a blazing 50.0 percent (13-of-26) from the field, while SSU shot 28.6 percent (8-of-28).

The Lady Rattlers opened the second half with a 9-3 run as they took a 43-27 lead on a McKelton three pointer with 15:58 to go in the game.

SSU would cut FAMU's lead to 55-45 on a Jasmine Kirkland  layup with 1:35 left in the game, that would be the closes that the Lady Tigers would get as FAMU held on for the 58-45 win.

For the complete story, visit www.famuathletics.com or www.ssuathletics.com

Howard Captures 20th Win, Extends Streak to Seven

Baltimore, M.D--- February 18 --- Tamoria Holmes hit a three pointer in the last six seconds of regulation to secure a 50-49 victory for Howard (20-7, 12-2 MEAC) in an exciting MEAC matchup against Coppin State (15-11, 10-3 MEAC). This marks the first 20-win season for the Lady Bison since the 2000-01 campaign when the team went 21-10 under head coach Cathy Parson.

The win also marks the seventh consecutive victory for the Lady Bison and puts HU ahead of Coppin in the MEAC standings, just under Hampton and Florida A&M.

Holmes tallied a game-high of 23 points while collecting four steals and grabbing five boards on the night. Saadia Doyle put together a solid effort with 12 points, six rebounds, and five steals.

Larrissa Carter made a three-point play to give CSU a 46-43 advantage at the 2:13 mark. With 51 seconds left, Holmes then dropped a bucket inside the paint to decrease the margin to 46-45. CSU responded with a lay-up by Leola Spotwood with 41 seconds left in the ball game. Seconds later, a foul placed Spotwood on the free throw line. Spotwood converted just on one the stripe. Holmes answered with an immediate shot off the glass at 18 seconds. With the score set at 49-47, Holmes ended the game with a deep three-ball to win the game 50-49 over Coppin State.

Carter led Coppin State with 11 points and nine boards. Leola Spotwood pitched in with nine points. Crystal Whittington and Shawntae Payne both grabbed nine off the glass.

Howard forced CSU into 24 turnovers and gained 11 points from the Eagles' mishaps. The battle of the boards was won by Coppin State, 50-35. CSU converted only four points off of HU's 16 turnovers. Tough shooting night for both teams as Howard went 27 percent from the field (16-for-58), while Coppin State finished with a 33.9 clip (19-for-56).

For the complete story, visit www.coppinstatesports.com or www.howard-bison.com

Long, Spartans Rally for Senior Day OT Win over Delaware State

NORFOLK, Va. - Whitney Long celebrated her Senior Day by scoring a season-high 27 points, all in the second half and overtime, to help Norfolk State rally from a 20-point second half deficit and edge Delaware State, 78-73, on Saturday afternoon at Joseph Echols Hall.

The win gives the Spartans (10-14, 5-8 MEAC) their 10th victory of the season, the first time since 2004-05 that NSU has reached double figures in wins. NSU now has more conference wins this season (5) than the last four years combined (4).

It didn't come easy, as DSU (5-20, 2-10) stormed out to a 34-25 halftime lead and extend its advantage to 20 early in the second half. But Long scored 25 second-half points and the Spartans stormed back to take the lead, then forced overtime on Long's running layup with 7.2 seconds left in regulation that knotted it at 65-all.

In overtime, the Hornets took the lead on two Deanna Harmon free throws on the first possession of the period. But NSU answered with six straight points, all coming from sophomore guard Rae Corbo, to take a 71-67 lead. The Spartans did not trail again. DSU cut it to four, 75-71, on two more Harmon foul shots with 53 seconds left, but NSU sealed it by hitting 4-of-6 from the line in the final 39 seconds.

Tasia Bristow had 19 points to lead the Hornets. Deanna Harmon added 16 and Tierra Hawkins totaled 15.

NSU hit 27-of-65 for the game (41.5 percent), compared to 24-of-66 for Delaware State (36.4 percent). The Spartans hit an efficient 21-of-28 from the free throw line, while the Hornets connected on 23-of-29 from the charity stripe.

After ending an 11-game losing streak to Delaware State Feb. 4 on the road, the Spartans have now won two in a row over the Hornets.

For the complete story, visit www.nsuspartans.com or www.dsuhornets.com

 Lady Pirates Win Low-Scoring Affair Over UMES

HAMPTON, Va. -Hampton stifled Maryland Eastern Shore defensively on Saturday afternoon en route to taking a 47-29 win at the HU Convocation Center.

The Lady Pirates (19-4, 11-1 MEAC) set a new season low in points allowed in picking up their fourth straight win. This is also the third straight game in which Hampton has held an opponent to under 50 points; two of those three didn't even break 40.

Senior forward Melanie Warner (led the Lady Pirates with 13 points on 6-for-14 shooting. Junior forward Keiara Avant (Chesapeake, Va.) pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds, including five on the offensive end.

Senior guard Jericka Jenkins added nine points to go along with five assists.

UMES (9-15, 6-6 MEAC) shot just 15.9 percent (7-for-44) from the floor, but the Lady Hawks did out-rebound Hampton 40-39 - marking the first time this season the Lady Pirates won a game in which they were out-rebounded.

Kwinnyata Mercer led UMES with 10 points.

For the complete story, visit www.hamptonpirates.com or www.umeshawks.com

A&T Women Defeat Archrival NCCU

GREENSBORO - North Carolina A&T women's basketball coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs is within two wins of winning 500 for her career as the Aggies easily defeated archrival N.C. Central 66-45 Saturday afternoon at Corbett Sports Center.

Three games remain in the regular season for Bibbs to win two. If she does, she will be the first women's coach to win all 500 games at a Division I historically black college or university. A&T improved to 12-14 overall and 7-6 in the MEAC.

North Carolina A&T's JaQuayla Berry added 23 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. First-year sophomore Tiffanie Adair added 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Aggies outrebounded the Eagles 53-31.

Chasidy Williams finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds for NCCU (3-23, 1-12 MEAC).   

For the complete story, visit www.nccueaglepride.com or www.ncataggies.com