Wikipedia - Howard Bison women's basketball
The Howard Bison women's basketball team represents Howard University in women's basketball. The school competes in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Bison play their home games at Burr Gymnasium in Washington, D.C.
History
Howard has won the MEAC Tournament 11 times, but they have only competed in six NCAA Tournaments due to the MEAC champion not going to the Tournament from 1983 to 1994. Sanya Tyler was the coach for all but one of the Bison's tournament championships in her tenure, beginning in 1980. In the 1982 Tournament, they lost to Long Beach 95-57 in the first round. In the 1996 Tournament, they lost 94-63 to Connecticut in the first round. In 1997, they lost 111-59 to Stanford in the first round. In 1998, they lost 91-71 to North Carolina in the first round. In 2001 (their last Tournament to date), they lost 100-61 to Iowa State. They have appeared in the WNIT twice (2012 and 2013). In the former, they lost 59-56 to Virginia. In the latter, they lost to Penn 65-60, both times being in the first round.
Het team, een mix van oud-spelers van het nationale team en huidige NCAA-sterren, wordt geleid door Dawn Staley, die de South Carolina Gamecocks naar drie NCAA-kampioenschappen heeft geleid.
Het team is vernoemd naar twee legendarische Amerikaanse basketbalsters: Sheryl Swoopes en Cynthia Cooper. Swoopes was een drievoudig olympisch goudenmedaillewinnaar en werd in 2016 opgenomen in de Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Cooper was een viermaal olympisch gouden medaillewinnaar en werd in 2019 opgenomen in de Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Het Howard - Dames-team zal spelen in de FIBA Women's World Cup 2022, die wordt gehouden in Sydney, Australië. Het team is een kanshebber om het toernooi te winnen en hoopt zijn eerste wereldkampioenschap sinds 2010 te winnen.