ORANGEBURG, SC – Cheyenne Curley-Payne tossed in 20 points and Saadia Doyle added 19 and a game-high 11 rebounds to lift Howard to a 69-46 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference win over host South Carolina State Monday.
Kara Smith was also in double figures with 14 points for the visitors, who improved to 15-7 overall and 7-2 in the MEAC.

SC State, which dropped its third consecutive contest, was led by Tracey Flowers with 11 points and six rebounds. Tiara Knotts added nine points and seven assists in the loss, which dropped Coach Doug Robertson's team to 8-11 and 4-4 in the league.

Howard, which led by just one, 27-26, at the half, outscored the Lady Bulldogs 42-20 in the second stanza. The Lady Bison connected on 46 percent of their shots from the field to only 35 percent for SC State and enjoyed a 42-24 edge on the boards against the host.

Flowers' three-point play at 17:51 of the second half pulled SC State into a 31-31 deadlock, but Howard scored the next 21 points to build a 52-31 advantage on a jumper by Doyle with 10:03 on the clock. Lauren Johnson, who contributed eight points for the Lady Bulldogs, finally broke the drought for SC State when she canned her second basket from behind the arc to make the score 52-34 with 9:51 to play. SC State could come no closer than the 18-point deficit the rest of the way.

The first half was closely contested and featured four ties and three lead changes before Howard took its slim one-point lead to the lockerroom.
The Lady Bulldogs will seek to snap its three-game slide Saturday when they host Savannah State in the first game of an MEAC doubleheader, beginning at 2 p.m. The game will be a rematch of the Jan. 21 encounter between the two schools at Savannah which the Lady Tigers won 76-65.

Howard also returns to action on Saturday when the Lady Bison travel to Maryland-Eastern Shore for a 2 p.m. contest.
--30--