Khadejra Young, a junior guard from Ft. Lauderdale, works the point (Photo Courtesy FAMU Sports Info.)
A finesse approach aided the Lady Rattlers as they put on a shooting clinic, defeating University of Maryland Eastern Shore 64-54 Monday.
Florida A&M University’s women’s basketball team (6-13, 3-4) started off fast and never looked back, jumping ahead with an 8-0 run early in the first half. It looked asthe Lady Hawks (6-11, 3-4) did not know what hit them.
The energy from the Rattlers seemed to rub off on each other as they distributed the ball and increased the lead to 13 points going into the half despite only getting to the line once.
The Lady Hawks put forth their best effort in the second half, closing in to as much as 6 points, but to no avail the Lady Rattler’s perimeter shooting was too much for them to handle.
FAMU Head coach LeDawn Gibson was especially proud of the offense despite losing key players to injury.
“What we were doing in the beginning of the season just wasn’t working,” Gibson said. “Being young and having a lot of injuries, we decided to put something different in to have a lot of movement where they are forced to share the ball.”
The Lady Rattlers shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, which ended the game with a 45 percent field goal percentage.
Junior forward Olivia Antilla and sophomore guard Alicia Jones put up 33 of the Lady Rattlers’ 64 points.
“We let the game from Saturday come over into this game, the same energy, the same teamwork, and the same patience,” Antilla said. “We’re really building on that win and moving forward as a team.”
Jones added that the intensity was good.
The players remained consistent through the game at distributing the ball for everyone to get an open shot, a strategy that has been effective the past two games.
The Lady Rattlers will rest up tomorrow and begin with preparations for their next home game against in-state rival Bethune-Cookman University on Saturday, Jan. 31. Gibson said it is a must-win situation.
“We have Bethune Saturday, and we don’t lose to Bethune,” Gibson said. “You could be 19-0 and lose to Bethune, you might as well be 0-20.”