The FAMU Lady Rattlers (8-9, 4-4 MEAC) didn’t show any signs of wear or tear in the early goings of their 75-67 win over the Howard University Lady Bison (7-9, 4-3 MEAC) Monday night in Gaither Gymnasium.
With only a little more than 48 hours to prepare for the Lady Bison after defeating the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Lady Hawks 65-53 at home on Saturday, the Lady Rattlers came out on fire.
Sophomore guard Q’Vaunda Curry started the game out shooting four of five from the field scoring nine points in her first five minutes of play, as the Lady Rattlers jumped out to a 17-3 lead with 15:26 to go in the first half.
The Quincy native finished with 13 points in just 14 minutes of action.
Then Howard began to make its run.
The Lady Bison scored fourteen unanswered points in a two-minute stretch in which they forced five turnovers to bring the deficit within three points.
The Lady Bison’s pesky full-court press would give the home team trouble throughout the night causing the Lady Rattlers to turn the ball over 31 times, 12 more than their season average.
“Their strength all year has been to press,” Clark said. “I guess when you’re small you have to try to speed the tempo of the game up. I thought we did an excellent job breaking the press.”
But the Lady Rattlers never lost the lead.
Speedy point guard Yvette Young kept the game under control frequently breaking down the Lady Bison press on her way to dishing out six assists, pushing her season total to 79.
“I kept my composure. I’m used to pressure,” said the sophomore from Sunrise. “That’s what I do. At the beginning of the game, I see who’s hot and I try to find them down the line.”
She found guard Deidre Jones early and often. The freshman standout from Powder Springs, Ga. dropped 19 Monday night on the Lady Bison often slashing through the teeth of the defense and scoring with an impressive mid-range game.
The Lady Rattlers front line put up big numbers, abusing the extremely undersized Bison in the paint all night.
In only her third game of the season after coming back from injury, center Ifeoma Onuaku went eight of ten from the field scoring 16 points and pulling down a mean 17 rebounds.
Junior forward Dawn Kindred also chipped in with a season-high 15 points.
“I told her (Kindred) in the locker room ‘outstanding minutes’, just real steady,” said Clark of Kindred. “She rebounded. She made her free throws. (She played) a great overall game.”
Guard Brittany James kept the Lady Bison in the game most of the night with her sweet jumper.
The senior from Compton, Calif. poured in a game-high 28 points in 32 minutes going eight of 10 from the field and a near perfect 10 of 11 from the free throw line.
The win moved the Lady Rattlers to within a game shy of second place in the conference.
The Lady Rattlers have the rest of the week off, before taking their act on the road on Saturday against Delaware State in Dover.
Contact Nick Birdsong at mrbirdsong@hotmail.com