Suffocating defense, a barrage of threes and a near triple double propelled the Lady Rattlers past the visiting Lady Bison of Howard University, 87-42.
All but two Lady Rattlers (9-11, 3-4 MEAC) players made it into the scoring column on the evening.
Florida A&M head coach LeDawn Gibson was pleased with team’s response to the recent skid.
“We dropped two on the road that we should’ve won but didn’t,” Gibson said. “Coming into the game, I told the ladies it was no time to dwell on the past.”
The player of the game was graduate student Jasmine Grice, who finished narrowly missing a triple-double with 34 points, eight steals and seven rebounds.
“I was aware of how close I was and asked to stay in,” Grice said of the potential triple-double. “I kind of tweaked my ankle so I had to come out for a few, but I told coach I wanted to go for it.”
After taking an 8-6 lead with just over 15 minutes left in the first half, the Lady Rattlers didn’t look back as they led for the rest of the contest.
The Lady Rattlers’ defensive effort was nightmarish for the Lady Bison (7-11, 3-2 MEAC).They were forced into 15 turnovers that allowed the Lady Rattlers to push their halftime lead to 18 at 41-23.
In the second half, it was no different as the Lady Rattlers’ defense continued to swarm, getting 12 steals.
Senior guard Kimberly Sparkman lit a fire under her team, tying her record for seven made three-pointers in a game. Sparkman finished with 21 points on 7 of 13 shooting.
Sparkman also achieved the feat in 2012 against Virginia Commonwealth.
“I felt good coming in,” Sparkman said. “My intention was, of course, not to have to take all those threes, but it was in the flow of the game.”
Next up for the Lady Rattlers will be another home game on Saturday against the South Carolina State Lady Bulldogs.
The game will be the first of two on the day that has been dubbed spring homecoming for FAMU basketball.