WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Howard rallied from a 22-point deficit and Zykia Brown had a season-high 30 points as the Bison defeated Winston-Salem State (WSSU), 55-44 Saturday afternoon at the C.E. Gaines Center.

The Bison completed its biggest comeback of the season without the services of Saadia Doyle, Howard’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer.

Howard trailed by double-digits early in the contest behind poor shooting and foul trouble, which led to a 31-12 deficit at the half. The Bison shot 17% in the stanza (5-of-29) and committed 10 fouls, while WSSU made 9-of-18 field goals and converted 8-of-12 from the charity stripe.

The Rams opened the second half with a three ball by Talnesha Kee’s and the WSSU advantage ballooned to 22 with 18:55 remaining.

Howard, however, slowly climbed back in it behind strong defense and 43% shooting in the second period. The Bison forced 17 second half turnovers and limited Winston-Salem State to five field goals, and the offense got going when Brown exploded for 25 of her 30 points after the intermission. 

Howard’s first lead of the game came late in the second half when Cheyenne Curley-Payne’s 3-pointer gave HU a one-point advantage with 3:58 left to play.

Curley-Payne added 12 points off the bench, including three big treys to keep the Bison in the contest.

The Lady Bison rallied for a 14-3 run over the next three minutes and pushed their advantage to 12 on a free-throw by Brown. The junior inked eight-of-10 from the charity stripe and hit nine consecutive points for HU midway thru the second half.

Brown led all scorers with a game-high 30 points to go along with nine rebounds while shooting 60% from the field (9-of-15) and 80% (4-of-5) from 3-point range.

Tamoria Holmes added six points, three steals, three assists and three rebounds while Portia Deterville added eight rebounds, three assists and two steals in her first start of the season.