ORANGEBURG, SC—Senior Sophilia Hipps scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed six rebounds, while junior Whitney Whiley tossed in 15 as South Carolina State picked up their second league victory 74-67 over the Lady Bison Monday at S-H-M.
Howard was led by Zykia Brown who scored a game-high 26, while Saadia Doyle chipped in 22 points in the loss.
The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to an early 11 point lead, 23-12 off a 3-pointer by freshman guard Tiara Knox at the 9:46 mark. A layup by Saadia Doyle with 1:54 left in the first half cut SC State‘s lead to four, 32-28.
SC State closed the first half with a 34-30 advantage. The Lady Bulldogs shot 5-9 (55.6%) from 3-point range in the first-half.
South Carolina State sparked a 19-5 run off a layup by junior Joi Walker to take a commanding 18 point lead, 53-35 at the 12:20 mark. A 3-pointer by Lauren Johnson followed by a layup by Zykia Brown cut the lead to five, 65-60 with 3:38 left in the game.
Howard’s Tamoria Holmes hit a driving layup with 1:10 left to pull the Lady Bison with three, 70-67. Freshman forward Tiana Hemphill’s layup with 0:56 seconds left sealed the 74-67 victory for the Lady Bulldogs.
With the win South Carolina State improves to 7-15 overall, 2-8 in the MEAC, while Howard falls to 11-11 overall, 6-4 in the league.
South Carolina State will return to action on Saturday when they travel to Baltimore, MD to take on the Lady Eagles of Coppin State University in a 2 p.m. MEAC showdown.
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