Howard makes history with NCAA First Four win. Next up: Top-seed South Carolina

History was made Wednesday night at the Colonial Life Arena.

Brooklyn Fort-Davis and Krislyn Marsh each recorded double-doubles to lead Howard to a 55-51 victory over Incarnate Word in the first-ever First Four contest in 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship history.

“Wow. Wow is the first thing that comes to my mind,” Howard coach Ty Grace said. “I’m thankful again for the young women that made history tonight.”

The tournament expanded to 68-teams this season to match the field set on the men’s side of things. Three other First Four games are scheduled, but the Bison and Cardinals were the first to tip off.

As a reward, Howard earns a date with the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament — host South Carolina — Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. That might not be the best news for the Bison.

The only No. 16 seed to ever win a tournament game came in 1998 when Harvard upset top-seeded Stanford. In fact, schools seeded No. 14-16 on the women’s side of things are 1-324 all-time, with the Harvard victory being the only win.

South Carolina’s coaching staff and players sat behind one basket and watched the action along with a sparse crowd at the Colonial Life Arena.

Howard (21-9) was in the tournament on the strength of cruising through the MEAC tournament. They won the three games by an average of 22.3 games. They tied for first during the regular season but was not challenged in the postseason run.

The Bison were making their first postseason appearance since 2001, and they made the most of it. They dominated on the glass, holding a 52-33 advantage in rebounding. That included a 22-2 lead on the offensive end that led to a 21-3 cushion in second-chance points.

Fort-Davis finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Marsh added 14 points and 16 rebounds.

It was a back-and-forth contest with 12 ties and nine lead changes. Howard took the lead for good on a second-chance opportunity by Marsh with 7:43 remaining that gave them a 41-40 lead. It grew to as many as seven points before they settled for the four-point win.

The players were aware of what awaited them on Friday but didn’t seem to mind, at least for a brief moment.

“I’m not scared,” Fort-Davis said. “It’s just another experience, another day to play how we play. It’s going to be a tough one, but we’ve played tough games all season.”

Columbia’s NCAA WBB tournament schedule

• Friday: No. 8 Miami vs. No. 9 South Florida, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN2)
• Friday: No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 16 Howard, 2 p.m. (ESPN)
• Sunday: Winners of Friday games, TBD (TBD)

This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 8:14 PM with the headline "Howard makes history with NCAA First Four win. Next up: Top-seed South Carolina."