Drought over, women win one

The Lady Rattlers are less than two weeks away from the MEAC Tournament, which should make every game a little more crucial than before.

Saturday the Lady Rattlers faced the ladies of Winston-Salem State, and with hard work the Lady Rattlers won 59-32.

The ladies of Winston-Salem, which has a record of 2-24, came with only a seven-line team as opposed to FAMU’s 10-member club. Joslyne Jackson, a senior guard from Georgia, said the win was a result of teamwork.

“This win happened because everybody got playing time,” Jackson said. “It made everyone’s job easier.”

Jackson scored the first shot within a minute of the game starting and quickly fired another two-pointer as soon as the Rattlers gained their next possession.

Jalesa Bird scored for the Lady Rams with 17:00 minutes left, only to be followed by Stephanie Foster’s two-pointer, which stretched the early lead for the Lady Rattlers 9-2.

Within the next two possessions Q’Vaunda Curry blazed a three-pointer, which lead Winston-Salem head coach Dee Stokes to call a time out. By halftime FAMU had out-rebounded their opponents 19 to 12.

Jackson closed the half by scoring a two-pointer inside the paint with both the shot clock and game clock winding down. Going into half time the Lady Rattlers led in all categories shooting well over 50 percent.

As the first half came to a close, FAMU was in the lead 40-11. Coming out of the half, Winston-Salem landed two quick fouls as well as a shot clock violation. They did, however, go on a fast 5-0 run to gain some momentum.

Although there were not any lead changes, both teams had four fast break points. Both FAMU and Winston-Salem scored points in the paint and had a good number of second chance points.

Despite their efforts the Lady Rams fought hard but in the end could not overcome the 29-point deficient that was there in the first half. As a result, the Lady Rattlers coasted during the second half to an easy win.

Coach Debra Clark said she was happy with the team’s success.

“I’m just glad to get a win,” Clark said. “I thought everyone made significant contributions. We played two complete halves.”

Senior guard Q’Vaunda Curry agreed with her coach.

“This was real important for us as a win,” said Curry, a Quincy native. “Hopefully the momentum we gained off this win will carry on.”

The stats seem to tell the story as to why the Lady Rattlers pulled out this win. They scored 22 points off turnovers alone, which was 10 less than the Lady Rams scored as a team.

The Lady Rattlers also got the upper hand on second chance points 14-2. As a team they shot 42 percent.

The leading scorer for the Lady Rams was Rene Rector with 14 points. Curry led the Lady Rattlers with 21 points and Taniyah Dawson contributed 6 assists.

Curry and the rest of her team hope this win will give them a good boost before they enter the MEAC tournament.

The next game is March 3 at 5:30 p.m. against South Carolina State in Gaither Gymnasium.