Howell was instrumental in the successful 2006-07 season for the Lions. She holds an integral role in the scouting of opponents and the development of Lions guards. Last year, guards Brittney Jordan and Kanani Marshal earned First Team All-Lone Star Conference honors. Jordan was named the Lone Star Conference North Division Newcomer of the Year and Marshal was selected as the Player of the Year. In addition, both were named to the NCAA South Central Region All-Tournament team.

The Chicago, Illinois native came to Texas A&M-Commerce after a playing career that included two years at the U.S. Air Force Academy and the University of Nebraska, respectively. At both institutions, Howell was successful on and off the court.

As a freshman, she was named the team's MVP in 2001-02 and as a sophomore, she was selected as team captain and earned Best Offensive Player honors in 2002-03 at Air Force before transferring to the University of Nebraska. As a two-time team captain, she earned Defensive Player of the Year recognition as a senior in 2005-06. Off the court, she was a volunteer mentor at Belmont Elementary, a volunteer speaker during American Education Week and served as vice president of Your Degree First for three years.

Howell concluded her career with the Huskers, starting 31 of 32 games as a senior. She tied for eighth on the Nebraska single-season assist list with 159 assists. The 159 assists also tied for the third most in a senior season in the Nebraska record book. She had a career-high 12 points and seven steals against No. 10 Minnesota and dished out 10 assists twice against Iowa State and Oklahoma State in her final season. As a junior, she appeared in 30 games with six starts. Her defensive tenacity led to 63 steals, including an average of 2.5 in Big 12 Conference games, which ranked second in the conference.

At Air Force, as a sophomore in 2002-03, she averaged a team-high 17.4 points per game and seven assists per game. She also set a pair of Air Force records, scoring a single-game record with 38 points against Minnesota and a single-season record with 119 assists. As a freshman, she was one of the top players in the conference. She led all freshmen and ranked second on the team in scoring with 10.0 points per game. She had a Mountain West Conference record 49 steals in conference play and set a school single season record with 90 steals. Howell also finished an assist shy of the school single-season record, ending the year with 109 assists.

Howell is the daughter of James and Sandra Howell. She has two younger sisters, LaTia (21) and LaTanya (20). She graduated from Nebraska in spring of 2006 with her bachelor's degree in psychology.