Box Score

 
WASHINGTON, DC – Howard won its ninth straight game a with a convincing 58-31 non-conference women's basketball victory over visiting NJIT Thursday evening at Burr Gymnasium.
 
Tamoria Holmes, a quick 5-foot-6 guard, who ranks 34^th in the nation in points per game according to NCAA statistics as of January 1^st, led all scorers with 24 points and shared game-high honors with teammate Cheyen Curley-Payne with five assists for Howard.  Holmes was 5-of-6 from the free throw line. 
 
Junior Saadia Doyle, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year, notched a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Bison.  Doyle ranks 21^st in the nation in double-doubles. 
 
For NJIT, freshman Denisa Domiterova scored a team-high nine points shooting 3-for-6 from behind the arc while junior guard Rayven Johnson, who has posted a double-double in the last three contests, added eight points and game-high 12 rebounds.  The 12 rebounds matches Johnson's season-high.
 
Freshman Nicole Maticka pulled down six rebounds and made a game-high three blocks raising her season total to 42. 
 
With the score tied at 7 three and half minutes into the game, Howard used a 12-0 run to break away from the Highlanders, 19-7, at the 11:23 mark.  Domiterova got the lead down to single-digits, 19-10, hitting a three-pointer from the wing at 10:36.
 
Howard (10-5) went on a 10-1 spurt in the final 9:20, led by Doyle's five points for a 29-11 half time score.  Doyle was the leader at the break with 12 points and six rebounds while NJIT was led by Johnson's five points.
 
The Bison scored the first four points of the second half and the Highlanders who were held scoreless in the final five minutes of the first half, got on the board at the 17-minute mark in the second period, 33-13, on a layup by sophomore Uju Nwankwo.
 
NJIT (5-10) scored eight consecutive points cutting the Bison deficit to 20, 47-27, on back-to-back three points by Domiterova and Sarah Olson with 5:30 remaining.  Freshman Alyssa Albanese started the run with an off-balanced layup just under the nine minute mark.
 
Howard closed out the game on an 11-4 spurt for a 58-31 final score. 
 
The Highlanders, who have been on the road since December 23, will continue their nine-game road trip and return to action on January 11 at Penn.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7pm.
 
Last season, NJIT defeated Penn in Newark by a score of 74-63 led by Johnson's game-high 24 points.