Howard University has long been thought of as the Ivy League of historically black colleges and universities. So it seems only fitting the Bison should face an Ivy League school in the first round on the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament March 21.
Howard (20-11) visits Penn (16-12) at 7 pm. The Quakers are the No. 2 seed in the East Region and Howard is slated as the No. 7 seed. The winner of the matchup will take on third-seeded Fairfield or sixth-seeded St. Francis (Pa.) on March 23 or March 24 at a site to be determined.
Penn is led by guards Alyssa Baron was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection, while freshman Keiera Ray earned honorable mention.
Baron led the Quakers in scoring for the third straight year with 14.2 points per game - fourth-best in the league. She was also second in the IL in assists (3.9), second in steals (2), second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3) and fifth in rebounding (6.3).
Ray started the last 25 games of the season and finished second on the team in scoring with 11 points per game. She was also second to Baron in assists (3.9) and steals (1.3).
Local star Brianna Bradford, of Laurel, Md., is generally the first or second player off the bench for the Quakers. She averaged 4.5 points per game this season.
Penn’s guards will be out to stop Bison spark plug Saadia Doyle (20.3 ppg). Others must step up in order to win. Doyle took more than 28 percent of the Bison’s shots this year.
Seniors Cheyenne Curly-Payne, Kara Smith and Nicole Deterville have to carry some of that offensive load to take the defense off Doyle. Remember Hampton?
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