RADFORD, Va. – Saadia Doyle's 12-foot jumper from the right elbow with 23 seconds ticks on the clock lifted Howard to a 44-39 come-from-behind victory over Radford, Sunday afternoon from the Dedmon Center. The Bison, who trailed until 1:08 left in the game, outscored Radford, 11-2 in the final 5:28 to improve to 2-4 on the young season.

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For the Bison, Doyle finished with a double-double, tallying a game-high 17 points and 11 rebounds. Zykia Brown, who gave Howard its first lead of the game, chipped in with 15 points and eight boards.

Junior Kaylyn Crosier (South Charleston, W.Va./South Charleston) was the only Highlander (0-4) in double figures, netting 11 points. To go along with her career-high in points, she matched a career-best with seven rebounds.

“We have to step up, take care of business and outwork our opponent in tight situations and we did not do that this afternoon,” stated head coach Tajama Abraham Ngongba. “We gave up too many offensive rebounds and lost the turnover battle for the first time this season. The ladies have to find a way to fight through it and get ready for West Virginia.”

Behind a solid defensive effort and some long range shooting, Radford jumped out to a 15-2 in the first 10:50 of the contest. The Highlanders held Howard to a 1-16 (.063) start from the field and hit their first two three-pointers and 3-of-7.

Redshirt junior Brooke McElroy (Richmond, Va./Monmouth) and freshman Da'Naria Erwin Spencer (Charlotte, N.C./East Mecklenburg) sandwiched their triples around a jumper to get Radford off to its hot start.

After Crosier drained a trifecta from the top of the arc at 9:10, the Highlander went into a 4:20 scoring drought. During that time, Howard's Saadia Doyle tallied five straight points, highlighted by an old-fashioned three-point play, and India Bradford capped off a 7-0 spurt with a jumper to get the Bison within six points (15-9) with 6:11 to play. Doyle finished the half with nine points.

Radford ended the drought at 4:50 on a short jumper by redshirt senior Kymesha Alston (Hampton, Va./Manhattan) and pushed its lead back to double digits on two occasions before taking a 24-17 lead into the half. Junior Jewell Kinlaw (Madison, Ala./Southwest Shoals CC) led Radford with seven points at the break.

Both team struggled shooting the ball in the first half – Radford (28.1 percent) and Howard (24.1 percent) – but were able to hang onto the ball, combining for just nine turnovers (HU 5/RU 4). Defensively, four different Highlanders recorded blocks.

Scoring four of the second half's first five points, the Bison got within, 25-21 at the 17:05 mark. Back-to-back jumpers by Crosier extended Radford's lead to 29-21.

With the Highlanders leading 31-23 at 12:29, the Bison cut the lead to 33-31 with an 8-2 run. Howard kept within striking distance and took its first lead of the game, 38-37, on Brown's old-fashioned three-point play with just 1:08 on the clock.

Making both ends of a 1-and-1, Alston put the Highlanders back up one, 39-38, with 48 ticks left, setting up Doyle's game-winner. Following the game-winning bucket, Howard drained all four of its free throws to seal the victory.

It was a struggle for both teams shooting as the Bison shot 27.9 percent and Radford 25 percent. The Bison won both the turnover (14-11) and rebound (46-45) battle. It was the first time this season the Highlanders turned the ball over more than their opponent.

The Highlanders hit the road for a mid-week tilt on Wednesday, Dec. 2 at West Virginia. Tip is set for 7 p.m.