Lady Hornets crack Lady Rattlers’ offense

The Florida A&M Lady Rattlers lost their eighth consecutive game, losing 50-40 to the Delaware State University Lady Hornets Monday.

The game was tied throughout the half as the Lady Rattlers kept up with the fast pace of the Lady Hornets’ offense. Forward Thyeis Halley led all first half scorers with nine points in the first half.

Halley even made a rare three-pointer, which gave FAMU a lead of 21 to 18 with only 7.8 seconds left in the first half. At the end of the first half, the Lady Rattlers led the Lady Hornets 21-20.

The second half was a different story, as the Lady Rattlers began to unravel.

The Lady Hornets expanded their lead after turning a Rattler turnover into 16 unanswered points, including six points through fast-break opportunities.

Head coach Debra Clark said the team’s turnovers were due to their offense not handling the ball well.

“I think on our half, we were mishandling the ball,” Clark said. “We were not responding to the pressure.”

With its eighth loss in a row, Clark plans to change to change the Lady Rattlers fortune through strategies in their practice.

“Our next couple of practices, we have to spend some quality time on offense,” Clark said. “We were not in sync.”

Delaware State’s lead expanded to as much as 16 points. FAMU guard Q’Vanda Curry tried to bring the Lady Rattlers back in the game with a three-point play late in the second half.

Guard Taniyah Dawson was able to get a steal on the next possession, but neither player could spark a run.

With 1:30 left, the Lady Rattlers trimmed the deficit from 40 to 48, but at this time, FAMU could not get the ball back in time to score more points.

Dawson, 20, from Mesquite, Texas, said even though they lost, they played hard but it was just not enough.

“We just have to step up to the plate,” Dawson said. “We sit back a lot. We were just not running our offense smoothly. It was hard for the point guard to get through to the ball. It was pressure defense. No one was getting open.”

Even though Halley was the lead scorer in the entire game with a total of 12 points, she said her points were insignificant because they lost the game.

“The points even don’t matter,” Halley, 21, from Cleveland said. “We didn’t make plays down the stretch. (We had) turnovers and rebounds.”