Sa’lah Hemingway is a bundle of disruption in the best possible way. She tips loose balls to keep possessions alive, stretches her hand across many a shooter’s sight-line, and steers ball-handlers into traps that lead to rushed passes and sudden steals.
Those instincts rarely make the box score sparkle, but they tilt momentum, creating extra possessions, igniting transition buckets, and producing stops that quietly shift the emotional temperature of a game.
The 6’0 Howard junior forward can also slip unnoticed through defenses on late inbounds plays, like she did against Cincinnati when she delivered a game-winning basket at the buzzer. She’s comfortable doing whatever the moment requires to help Howard build a season worth remembering.
To the casual fan, her contributions can feel almost invisible. But inside the program, veteran head coach Ty Grace and the Bison know exactly what she is. Hemingway is the alternator in Howard’s system, constantly generating the energy that keeps the Bison machine moving and grooving. You rarely think about an alternator when everything is running smoothly. You only notice it when it stops working.
Three years ago, a campus visit nearly 3,000 miles from her San Bernardino, Calif. home felt strangely familiar, convincing Hemingway to trade comfort for growth. Since then, she has evolved into the kind of player whose influence rarely lives in a stat line. Her devotion to the unnoticed details has helped Howard grind out wins, capture the MEAC tournament championship and earn its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2022.
The moment was a long time coming for Hemingway, who felt the sting of losing to Norfolk State in the tournament championship game her first two seasons at Howard. The Bison were determined to scale Mount Norfolk to reach the MEAC summit. It took perseverance, focus and dedication to get it done. In this year’s championship game against Norfolk State, a 53-46 triumph, Hemingway contributed 6 points and seven rebounds.
Just another night’s work.
Howard (26-7 overall) carries a 14-game winning streak into the NCAA tournament as a No. 14 seed and will face No. 3 Ohio State (26-7) on Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. in a Fort Worth Region I contest. Sixth-seeded Notre Dame (22-11) meets No. 11 Fairfield (28-4) at 2 p.m. The winners meet in Monday’s second round.
“I feel like the past couple of years my role has been more of a defensive role, but now this year I knew I needed to step up offensively,” Hemingway said. “I’ve been trying to be more aggressive during games, attacking the basket, helping my teammates get open and making the right decisions. I’m still strong on the defensive side, but I knew I had to tap back into my offensive side this season.”
Hemingway has been critical this season in helping Howard win a conference-record 12th MEAC and leading it to its seventh NCAA appearance.
Like her role on defense, Hemingway’s offensive numbers, 3.3 points per game, don’t immediately stand out. But her baskets tend to arrive at the right time. Over Howard’s final six games, she is averaging 7.3 points per game. She scored a season-high 12 points against Coppin State in Howard’s home finale on Feb. 26 and added 9 points in a road win over Norfolk State on March 5 that helped the Bison secure their first outright MEAC regular-season title since 2002.
Howard has posted consecutive 20-win seasons and appeared in six straight MEAC tournament championship games. The Bison were ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25 earlier this season after nonconference wins over Providence, Cincinnati and Fairfield.
Now a junior, Hemingway prepared for the increased responsibility last summer. She routinely spent grueling 45-minute sessions in the gym, putting up 200 to 300 shots while sharpening a midrange game that allows her to punish defenses and open the floor for Howard’s dynamic scoring guards Ariella Henigan, Zoe Stewart, Destiny Bynum-Johnson and Emma Nuquay. She can also shoot with confidence, knowing that many of her misses will be rebounded by Howard’s inside duo of Zennia Thomas and Nile Miller.
“We watched film before we started our workouts,” Hemingway said. “For most of my workouts it’s just getting into my shot faster and getting my shot off the dribble. I’ve been trying to work on my midrange because that’s where I feel like I’m most successful. We worked our way inside out, just as anybody would do, and then I usually go all around the world at least five times.”
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Hemingway tried every sport growing up, but two kept pulling her back: basketball and tennis. Eventually the decision made itself. She spent her early years playing pickup games with boys and didn’t regularly compete against girls until middle school, an experience she believes sharpened the competitive edge that defines her game today.
At home, basketball was already part of the family language. Her brothers played. Her parents played. Conversations, encouragement and quiet pushes toward the gym were constant.
“They inspired me and kept pushing me to be where I am right now,” Hemingway says of her parents.
Growing up in California, the influence stretched beyond the driveway and neighborhood courts. Like so many kids in the state, she grew up watching her favorite team, the Los Angeles Lakers, glow across the television.
Those early days, family runs, Lakers nights and competing in gyms full of boys, built the foundation for the tough, competitive Hemingway.
But when she reached the collegiate level, Howard’s pull went far beyond basketball. The campus quickly became a real community for her, a place where it’s easy to build relationships outside the game and feel supported in every direction.
“The Howard community is really strong,” Hemingway said. “It’s easy to make friends outside of basketball because everybody’s so welcoming. There’s always something going on around campus, and I don’t think anybody at Howard wants to see anybody else fail.”
Another key factor in Howard’s enchanted season was its summer trip to Portugal, which gave the roster time to build chemistry. Hemingway used that familiarity to become a steady voice on the floor, coaching through action as much as words, stepping into defensive gaps and guiding newer players through a system she already knew.
It’s this combination of deliberate skill work, defensive craft and unglamorous effort that explains why her growth feels earned. The results are sweeter because they were built on hundreds of unseen plays that consistently tilt games in Howard’s favor.
“I feel like I didn’t have that big of a leadership role last year, but I felt like sometimes my voice was needed,” Hemingway said. “Going into this year I felt really comfortable because we were the only returners. A lot of people didn’t know the system, so we had to help them the best way we could. That meant speaking up more. Having more conversations with Coach Ty has helped me.”
Her leadership role wasn’t the only adjustment Hemingway had to make.
The distance from home hit hard at first. It was the first time she had ever been away from home for that long, and she had to live with the weight of that decision every day. But instead of pulling back, she leaned into it. Choosing Howard became proof to herself that she could make big, uncomfortable decisions and still find a way to thrive.
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Her most significant growth, though, may have been internal.
As a freshman, Hemingway admits she arrived like many decorated high school players, believing she already knew everything. That mindset, she said, was “humbled… really fast,” forcing her to confront the reality that nothing at this level would be handed to her. Over time, she learned to control her emotions, listen more carefully and accept constructive criticism.
“You actually have to show the coaches what you can do at this level,” Hemingway said. “I learned that you’re not just going to come in here and have everything handed to you. You have to work extra hard for everything because at any moment your opportunity can be gone.”
Now, as one of the few returners on a roster filled with new faces, that evolution shows up in her voice and presence. She’s the one helping teammates learn the system, speaking up when coaches aren’t nearby and understanding that her growth, especially in maturity and leadership, is a big reason Howard is in the position it’s in today.
“She chose to come to Howard because she wanted to be somewhere she could authentically be herself and win,” head coach Ty Grace said to The IX Basketball via text. “She’s a great recruiter for us and also has been one of the most reliable players in the program.”
On Saturday morning against Ohio State, the spotlight will fall on scorers and stars. But if Hemingway has her way, Ohio State players could spend the morning feeling a little like Pam and Gina in that unforgettable Martin episode, stuck with a car mechanic singing endlessly while they try to escape the disruption.
The Bison understand that every machine needs power running beneath the hood. And if Howard hopes to keep moving and grooving on the sport’s biggest stage, their alternator will have to keep humming.
Norfolk State hosting WNIT game
Norfolk State will be making its fifth consecutive postseason appearance and first in the WNIT since 2022 when it lost to Drexel. The Spartans finished with an 18-14 record and advanced to the MEAC championship game for the fifth straight year, where it dropped a decision to Howard.
Playing a postseason home game is meaningful for the Spartans. Norfolk State will host Loyola (Ill.) on Saturday at 2 p.m.
“Taking over a successful program is not without its challenges, and many might view it as audacious,” first-year head coach Jermaine Woods said to The IX Basketball. “Nevertheless, advancing to the championship and receiving an opportunity to continue our season was satisfying. Given the limited opportunities for HBCUs to compete post-season, where winning the league is often a prerequisite, our achievement in the first year is noteworthy. I’m excited for the next game and confident in the program’s future.”
Norfolk State is led by MEAC Defensive Player of the Year Jasha Clinton, who ranks eighth in the nation in total steals (110) and steals per game (3.44). NSU also placed three players on the All-MEAC teams. Da’Brya Clark earned first-team honors, while Anjanae Richardson and Clinton received second-team selections.
As a team, the Spartans rank third in the nation in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 33.9 percent shooting. Norfolk State also ranks sixth in 3-point percentage defense (25.9 percent), 10th in steals per game (12.4), and 23rd in both blocks per game (4.9) and turnovers forced per game (20.8).
The WNIT appearance also marks the second for Woods, who led Coppin State to the postseason tournament last season. The winner of the Loyola-Norfolk State game travels to Florida Gulf Coast for a second-round contest.
UMES’ historic season continues
Maryland-Eastern Shore second-year head coach Malikah Willis hasn’t been shy about the mission: win the MEAC and break the Howard-Norfolk State stronghold.
UMES didn’t get there this season. But the gap? It’s closing.
The Hawks made that clear during a statement week in January, during which they knocked off both Howard and Norfolk State. They finished tied for second in the MEAC, reached the semifinals for the second straight year, and set a program record with 19 wins — tangible proof of a program rising in real time.
Now comes the next step.
UMES will face Wake Forest on Thursday night at LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem in the first round of the WNIT, marking the first postseason appearance in program history.
“This is a huge opportunity for our team,” Willis said. “It is historic, yet, it’s also a testimony to our team’s persistence and dedication to being better everyday. I’m honored to lead this program and proud to be their coach. The support that we receive from the UMES campus and community is overwhelming. It’s a great time to be a Hawk.”
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For a team chasing something bigger, this moment matters. Championships don’t always arrive all at once. Sometimes they’re built, piece by piece, through opportunities like this — another game, another test, another chance for a veteran group to keep working. Last season, Howard played in the WNIT and this season it’s in the NCAA tournament.
UMES’ growth also showed up in MEAC postseason honors.
Brianna Barnes was named MEAC Sixth Player of the Year. Ashanti Lynch earned All-MEAC First Team and All-Defensive honors. Freshmen Desi Taylor and Kaliya Perry landed on the All-Rookie Team.
Lynch (12.2 ppg) and Barnes (10.1) led the scoring, while Dakieran Turner controlled the glass with 6.9 rebounds per game. Lainey Allen (6.2 rpg) and Lynch (183 total rebounds) added balance inside. Kalise Hill set the table with 73 assists.
Defensively, UMES turned pressure into identity.
Perry led the way with 27 blocks. Hill, Lynch, and Barnes combined for 180 steals — nearly identical totals that reflect a collective commitment on that end. As a team, the Hawks ranked 49th nationally in steals (10.2 per game) and 18th in turnovers forced (21.33), numbers that tell the story of a group that disrupts, deflects and refuses to let opponents breathe.
Now, they get to keep playing. And if this season has shown anything, it’s that UMES is no longer chasing from a distance.
They’re right there.
