MIAMI, Florida -- The Florida A&M Lady Rattlers (6-8, 1-1 MEAC) dropped a testy battle in South Florida to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-4, 0-0 ACC), 79-63 at the U.S. Century Bank Arena on the campus of FIU, in the first round of the Fun& Sun Classic.
In the first half, the Lady Rattlers battled through a physically imposing WFU front line that bested them on the boards, but used a press defense to slow progress, allowing the Lady Rattlers to keep the Demon Deacons close.
“I thought we played a tough game in the face of a very tall team, while nursing some injuries of a few of our front court players. We let a few opportunities get away at times, but overall we stayed aggressive throughout the game. We did some good things in this game and we hope to build on it and get a split here to close out this tournament. From there we plan to tighten up loose ends just in time for conference play,” head coach LeDawn Gibson said.
The Lady Rattlers were led by Jasmine Grice as scored 20 points on 7-of-20 shooting from the field. She was also one of the team leaders with seven rebounds and added five steals to her line. Taneka Rubin poured in 16 points on 5-of-18 shooting, while Kimberly Sparkman chipped in 14 on 6-of-10 shooting. Rubin pulled down seven rebounds, as did Ann Marie Harris.
Wake Forest was led by Dearica Hamby, who hit for 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Chelsea Douglas added 13 and Ataijah Taylor closed out the double-digit scorers with 10. Hamby dominated the boards, using her lengthy frame to haul in 18 rebounds. No other play grabbed double digit rebounds in the game.
The Lady Rattlers put up a fight to the end, but had no answer for the Demon Deacon size. “I am encouraged by what I saw. We never gave up. Looking at our team now, as opposed to where they were just a few weeks ago, we’ve made some positive strides. If we continue to improve, we should be where we want to be this season,” Gibson said.
FAMU shot 32.4 percent for the game, while WF shot a scorching 50 percent. 54 of the Demon Deacon points came in the paint, eclipsing FAMU’s 28 points. WF also had 30 points contributed by their bench to 19 for FAMU.
Final Stats
The Lady Rattlers will play in the consolation game tomorrow at 1 p.m. as they will face Farleigh Dickinson at the U.S. Century Bank Arena.
COURTESY FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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