Courtesy: Florida A&M Sports Information/Vaughn Wilson
Florida A&M University Lady Rattlers defeated Kennesaw State University Tuesday night winning 69-67 in an overtime thriller in their season home opener.
The Lady Rattlers lost last year to the Owls by 21 points, final score being 79-58. They held the lead for the entire first half, and was up 34-32 going into the halftime break.
Four of the Lady Rattlers were in double digits. Sophomore center, Shalaunda Burney-Robinson and senior guard, Khadejra Young both finished the game with 15 points. Senior forward Olivia Antilla scored 14 points , and junior Cedricka Sweeting added 11.
Burney-Robinson also led the Rattlers with eight rebounds with two assists. She stated that winning this home game boosted the confidence of the team.
“When we are all on the same page we play better, we look better, and we communicate better.” Burney-Robinson said. “Our first home game blazed a trail and gave us a boost for the next games we will be playing because we know what we have to do in order to win and how to do it.”
The Owls battled back in the second half to send the game into overtime.
With 1.1 seconds left in overtime,Young hit a game-winning putback.
Associate head Coach for Florida A&M, Latasha Shipman-Ganus was pleased to see her players get the win Tuesday night.
“We didn’t care if it was by 10 points or one point, as long as there was a WIN.” Shipman-Ganus said. “Playing those type of games the players can do one of two things, either develop character or deflate and thank God we chose the first one.”
Antilla was excited about the Rattler’s winning their season home opener.
“It was huge for us to win our home opener!” Antilla said. “We played as a team and a unit. We have to continue doing that in every aspect.”
The Lady Rattlers look to carry this momentum into this weekend as they travel to Georgia to play in the Kennesaw Thanksgiving Tournament Classic.
The Rattlers will take on the University of New Orleans Privateers in the first game Saturday at 1 p.m.