The Florida A&M Lady Rattlers (2-5) could not stop their losing streak as the fell to Wake Forest 80-60 Wednesday night.
It was another tough shooting night for the Lady Rattlers as they were held under 40 percent shooting. They have shot under 40 percent in each of their seven games this season.
Junior Jasmine Grice led the team with 25 points, five rebounds and four steals. However, no other player scored in double figures.
The team jumped out to an early lead in the first half. Junior Cristal Liriano made a jumper to tie the game at 19, but the Demon Deacons (4-5) would go on a 19-point run to take a 38-24 lead going into halftime.
Junior Kimberly Sparkman made a layup with less than 18 minutes to go in the second half to cut the deficit to 12, but the Lady Rattlers could not come any closer.
Wake Forest shot 60 percent from the field in the second half and pulled away by outscoring the Lady Rattlers 42-36 during that half.
Senior Patrice Collie said that the team’s energy was not consistent through the game.
“I believe if we would have fought the way we did at the beginning throughout the whole game, we could’ve won,” she said.
Head coach LeDawn Gibson’s team did get more players involved on offense, but many shots were not falling. Liriano said the team made some tweaks to get players better opportunities and high-percentage shots.
“We changed up our offense and added more cutting and ball movement,” she said. “That gave us more execution.”
Despite only shooting 38 percent from the field, the Lady Rattlers shot over 44 percent in the second half. They also were able to get out and run, scoring 15 fast break points in the contest.
On the inside, however, Wake Forest outscored FAMU in the paint 50-28. The Demon Deacons also outrebounded the Lady Rattlers 46-34, 19 of which were offensive rebounds.
FAMU has played four of its seven games on the road and is 1-3 in those contests.
The Lady Rattlers return home to play the Southeastern Louisiana Lady Lions Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Al Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center.