The Lady Rattlers will travel to Delaware State to face the Lady Hornets in their upcoming game this weekend.
After dropping two of their first three conference games, the Delaware State Lady Hornets have split its last four conference games to improve to 3-4 in MEAC play.
Rattlers Head Coach Debra Clark said Terrelle Waller, point guard for the Hornets, is Delaware State’s strongest player. She is the playmaker for the team and the Lady Hornets will follow her lead on the court.
Clark is depending on three of her seniors to have big games, Charon Williams in particular, to contribute more on both ends of the floor. And senior forwards Ariel Towns, and Quidara Russell, to carry the bulk of the offensive load.
Clark said the Lady Rattlers have been inconsistent so far this season. She said she wants her team to gain continuity and consistency before February, which starts the second half of the conference (MEAC) games.
Clark said she can’t pinpoint the reason for the team’s inconsistent play.
“If I knew what the problem was, there wouldn’t be one,” Clark said.
Clark admitted that although the Lady Rattlers have some good days, they also have some bad ones.
Clark said she is still grateful to have a team where players step up their play when other players aren’t playing their best.
Following Monday’s last-second victory over South Carolina State, the Lady Rattlers got Tuesday off before they jumped back into practice running and working on fundamentals.
While the players rested, Clark and the rest of her coaching staff reviewed Delaware State’s film.
They devised some strategies which they hope to have down to a science by this weekend. She said that the keys to winning the game will be to control Waller, be very aggressive and push the ball to get easy transition baskets.
The Lady Rattlers will try to avoid another close game like their last two, which resulted in one loss to North Carolina A&T, 80-77, and a last-minute victory over South Carolina State, 54-53, thanks in large part to senior point guard Tene’ Miller’s lay up with 2.1 seconds remaining.
Clark said the loss (North Carolina A&T) was discouraging but she thinks the victory against South Carolina State will give them that boost of confidence they need for an away game against a conference opponent.
“We prefer to play at home because playing on the road is a hostile environment. Delaware is a hard gym to play in,” Assistant Coach Nikki Washington said.
“Delaware’s gym is a very intimate setting, barely holding 1000 people. Delaware’s fans, along with the band, makes for a hard game,” assistant coach Joe Clark added.
The game against South Carolina State “was a hard fought game, but (it) wasn’t one of our best performances,” Clark said. “We out rebounded the best rebounding team in the league and that can carry over for our next game.”
The coaching staff said that by becoming more consistent and eliminating mistakes the Lady Rattlers can beat any team.
Contact Tenikca D. Morning at famuan_pr@hotmail.com.