Columbia, MD - The Dragons were unable to hold onto a big halftime lead as the Monroe Colle-Bronx Express broke the Dragons' hearts in overtime.

Howard came out of the gates playing fantastic defense, holding the Express to just two points and no made field goals in the first quarter. The Dragons continued their great play and extended the lead to 33-12 at halftime as they seemed well in control of the nationally ranked #5 in NJCAA Division III Express.

The tides changed in the third quarter when the Monroe shots started to fall as they scored 26 points in the quarter to cut the Howard lead down to 10. Monroe made one more huge push early in the fourth quarter, going on a 13-0 run to take their first lead of the game at 51-50 with 3:30 left. Kori People (Washington, D.C./Central) responded with a tough layup to give Howard the lead back, but an Express free throw with 2:32 left tied the game at 52-52. Both teams had chances to win the game late, but neither team was able to find another point as the game went into overtime. 

In the extra period, three early Monroe points were cancelled out by a huge Sarah Deese (Woodbine, MD/Century) three pointer, but the Express answered back with a three of their own and would not relinquish the lead again as they closed out the game 63-59.

Three Dragons played all 45 minutes in the game with People scoring 27 points along with 12 rebounds, nine steals and six assists. Kalani Corkeron (Columbia, MD/Wilde Lake) added eight points and 12 rebounds while Deese scored five points with eight rebounds. Quatazia Johnson (Hyattsville, MD/Northwestern) came up with another big contribution off the bench with 11 points and six rebounds.

Howard will have a week to rest before getting back at it on the road to Pennsylvania where they will take on Beaver County on Saturday, January 29 at 1 PM.