The Howard Bison women earned their first-ever NCAA tournament win by defeating Incarnate Word 55-51 in the First Four.
Howard (21-9) was led by their two forwards junior Brooklynn Fort-Davis and senior Krislyn Marsh. Fort-Davis had a team-high 15 points and added 10 rebounds. Meanwhile, Marsh scored seven of her 14 points in the fourth quarter while tying her career-high with 17 rebounds.
UIW (13-17) was led by junior forward Tiana Gardner with a game-high 16 points.
The Cardinals took a 38-35 lead at the end of the third quarter when Destiny Jenkins made a three-point heave at the buzzer.
But the Bison responded with an 8-2 run to start the fourth quarter. The run swung the lead back to Howard at 43-40 that they never relinquished. Destiny Jenkins made a layup with 3:15 remaining that cut UIW’s deficit to one at 47-46.
After trading a couple of empty trips, Fort-Davis scored back-to-back buckets in the paint that extended Howard’s lead to 51-46 with 44 seconds remaining.
Howard led 52-48 when its defense sealed the win. The Bison came away with two steals on the Cardinals’ next three possessions fending off any late rally.
Howard’s ability to control the glass was huge. They outrebounded UIW 51-34. Howard had 22 offensive rebounds that negated 1-of-18 shooting from three and 30.9% shooting from the field.
The Bison also made it a difficult night for UIW’s leading scorer Jaaucklyn Moore. Moore finished with a hard fought 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting.
Howard was making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2001. They were previously 0-5 all-time in the tournament before Wednesday night. The win now sets them up for a date with the No. 1 overall seed South Carolina Gamecocks.
