By Brandon Walker for Urban Media Today
April Edwards and Zoe Stewart combined to score 29 points for Howard and held UMES to 33 percent shooting as they moved into sole possession of first place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with a 66-45 win on Saturday afternoon at the Burr Gymnasium.
Stewart began the game’s scoring with a three-pointer, which was answered by a basket by Lainey Allen for UMES (14-13, 7-2 MEAC). Mile Miller answered for the Bison as both teams buckled down in the early going, as Howard (19-7, 8-1 MEAC) led 7-4 at the first quarter media timeout. Thomas then converted a three-point play to turn the momentum in Howard’s direction, followed by a basket by Stewart with the shot clock winding down as Howard gained a ten-point advantage late in the first quarter as UMES committed unforced turnovers.
Howard led 16-7 at the end of the first quarter.
UMES started to inch closer by continuing to play tight defense and the play of Allen and Brianna Barnes. A Desi Taylor fast break tied the game before Stewart made a basket to snap a six-minute field goal drought. The defensive struggle continued until Stewart scored two straight baskets to put Howard back up by five, and the advantage held into halftime.
Howard led 27-21 at halftime.
The key stat of the first half is that UMES went 0-for-7 from the three-point line, while Howard won the rebounding battle 14-9.
Howard began the second half with a basket by Sa’lah Hemmingway, followed by two layups by Ariella Henigan to put the Bison lead back to double digits. Ashanti Lynch made a three-pointer to end the three-point drought for the Hawks. Howard started to get into a flow offensively as UMES continued to struggle, as Howard’s lead grew to 14 points at the third-quarter media timeout, as UMES went the last six minutes of the quarter without a field goal.
End of the third quarter: Howard 52, UMES 28.
UMES’s struggles continued into the fourth quarter as they were missing layups from point-blank range as Howard cruised to a wire-to-wire victory, avenging its 62-58 loss on the road on Jan. 10. Edwards’s 15 points was a career high, while Stewart scored 14 points for Howard. Zennia Thomas added 10 points for Howard. Allen was the only UMES player to score in double figures with 12 points.
Howard will remain at home next Saturday when they face NC Central, while UMES will return to the road to take on Coppin State.
You can follow Brandon on all social media accounts: @bwalkerdadon
