Rookie guard/forward Natalie Day rose to the occasion and scored a game and career-high 20 points in her second start for the Lady Bison. Howard cut a 22-point deficit down to 10 but the freshman's effort was not enough as Bucknell took a 63-53 victory over Howard at Burr Gymnasium on Monday.Day started for the first time since the season opener in place of Morgan Neal, who did not dress after sustaining an injury versus Colgate last week.
Tamaya Daniels, the second-leading scorer and top rebounder for the Bison, missed most of the second half after injuring her knee in the first stanza. She played just two minutes in the second period and finished with one rebound and two steals in 17 minutes of action.
"Nobody's going to feel sorry for us," Howard coach Niki Reid Geckeler said. "I told the kids [the injuries] are what we have going on and we have to battle through it. They kind of wore us down and hurt us on the glass."
Bucknell had a 42-30 advantage in rebounds. Joyce Novacek had a double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds to pace BU, who improved to 7-5 with the win.
Zykia Brown added 19 points for Howard, while freshman guard India Bradford had 10 points in 10 minutes off the bench.
Novacek scored six points as Bucknell closed the first half on a 10-0 run to go up 32-19. HU was within 60-49 after slowly chipping away at the lead before Amanda Brown hit a 3-pointer that extended the lead to 14, and Howard was never closer than 10 points the rest of the game.
The Bison (0-12) had 13 turnovers, a season-low, and forced 23 Bucknell miscues.
MEAC play begins with a trip to Florida A&M on Saturday, Jan. 10.
(Source, and photo, HU Athletics)
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