GLENELG, MD — Facing a 24-14 halftime deficit at Glenelg on Friday night, and without second-team all-county guard Jayda Gilmore — who was on the bench with her arm in a sling — the Howard Lions had their work cut out for them.
But as they showed in a triple overtime win against Centennial earlier this week, the Lions are up for a challenge.
Led by Natalie Talley's 16 points, Howard (4-1) came all the way back to beat Glenelg (3-2), 35-34, Friday night.
"We went in the back room and we talked about what we needed to do and got it together," Talley said. "We came back a different team and fought really hard with a lot of heart and a lot of guts."
Talley said that the triple overtime win followed by the ten-point comeback victory in the same week have taught her a lot about her team.
"It's giving us heart attacks but besides that it's getting us ready for bigger games and getting us ready for further in the season," she said.
Junior center Berit Batterton scored seven of her nine points in the first four minutes of the second half to kick start the comeback.
"In the first half we were rushing too many shots. I told the girls that it wasn't like we had a 30-second shot clock, it was like we had a three-second shot clock," Howard coach Scott Robinson said. "So we tried to get easier shots and tried to get the ball inside and get easier baskets that way."
Glenelg was led by freshman Kelli Johnson, who scored 13 points in the loss.
"We played a little tentative in the second half ... we just froze up a little bit and stopped running our stuff," Glenelg coach Chris Beil said. "We had our opportunities ... but I've got a young team, I have this team for two years, and if we're playing at this level now I can't wait to see where we're at down the road."
Junior Miranda Mattis (9 points), sophomore Grace Butera (4) and freshman Jess Foster (3) also contributed for the Gladiators.
Ho (4-1): Talley 16; Batterton 9; Scott 6; Lewis 2; Worrell 2.
G (3-2): Johnson 13; Mattis 9; Butera 4; Foster 3; Hanlon 2; Price 1; Twigg 1; Wolfrey 1.
Half: G 24-14