FAMU Lady Rattlers Win Fifth Straight With 69-59 Win Over UAB

ANTONIA BENNETT
6-1 SENIOR G/F
LAKE GIBSON HS
LAKELAND, FL




QIANA DONALD
6-0 SENIOR C/F
RIBAULT HS
JACKSONVILLE, FL

  

TAMEKA MCKELTON
5-8 SENIOR GUARD
PALM BCH LAKES HS
W. PALM BEACH, FL

TALLAHASSEE, Florida - The Florida A&M Lady Rattlers (8-5, 1-0 MEAC) defeated the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Blazers (9-3, 0-0 C-USA) in a 40-minute slugefest. At the half, the Blazers were leading 29-27, but the Lady Rattlers came out with a stiff press, stifling the offense of UAB and allowed the Lady Rattlers to score 42 points in the second half tonight at the Alfred Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center and Teaching Gymnasium.

The Blazers, who had earlier this season defeated the defending MEAC women's conference champion Hampton Pirates, controlled the pace of the first half as it played to their strength. UAB was known for its stifling defense, which held teams to under 40 points in the games they won this season, but the Lady Rattlers would find an answer at halftime.



In the first half UAB's leading scorer, Amber Jones, dropped in 11 points, on 4-10 shooting (2-5 from three-point range). The Blazers' Karisma Chapman scored eight and Michaelea Kleist dropped in six. Meagan Brown would grab six rebounds in the half. In all, only five Blazers scored in the first half.

For the Lady Rattlers, Jasmine Grice came off the bench to score 10 points in the first half. Qiana Donald scored eight and Antonia Bennett scored six. Donald and Bennett grabbed five rebounds each in the half.

Coach LeDawn Gibson challenged her team to get after the Blazers at halftime. "The first half was slow-paced. We played to their strength. We did offensive and defensive adjustments at halftime that allowed us to pick up the pace and play our game," Gibson said.

PHOTO ALBUM 

FINAL STATS

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JASMINE GRICE
5-9 SOPH. GUARD
EAST GADSDEN HS
QUINCY, FL



KETURAH MARTIN
6-0 JUNIOR GUARD
SW TENN. CC
MEMPHIS, TN



KIMBERLY SPARKMAN
5-8 SOPH. GUARD
VOLUNTEER ST. CC
COLUMBIA, TN



Courtesy: FAMU Sports Information (Click on player name for profile and accomplishments).

FAMU earns big win over UAB

TALLAHASSEE, Florida - The Florida A&M women's basketball team answered two questions Monday night: whether it could find its offense if scoring leader Antonia Bennett has an off night and when it would win a game at home.

The Rattlers answered yes and now, as they rallied from a first-half deficit to defeat the University of Alabama at Birmingham for their first home victory of the season, 69-59, at the Lawson Center.

Bennett, the leading scorer in the MEAC who came into the game with an average of 20.1 points per game, was held to six first-half points. She finished the game 6 of 17 shooting for 14 points Seniors Qiana Donald (16 points) and Tameka McKelton (10 points) stepped up, while redshirt freshman Jasmine Grice (13 points) continued her hot shooting in her second game since regaining eligibility for academic reasons.

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UAB's Streak Snapped With 69-59 Loss At FAMU

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Karisma Chapman and Amber Jones combined for 47 points Monday night, but the UAB women's basketball team saw its eight-game winning streak snapped with a 69-59 loss in its non-conference finale at Florida A&M.

The Blazers (9-3) took a 29-27 lead into the half but were outscored by 12 points over the final 20 minutes by a Florida A&M team that presented a different challenge than any previous opponent during the winning streak.

The Lady Rattlers (8-5) applied full-court pressure defense for the entire game and got out in transition at any opportunity, even after made baskets. Their 69 points were the most allowed this season by UAB, the fourth-best team in the country in scoring defense that hadn't allowed more than 47 points in eight games.

Chapman matched her career-high with 24 points for UAB, including 16 in the second half, while Jones finished with 23. The pair combined to knock down 16 of 29 shots from the floor, but the Blazers shot 38.5 percent as a team for the night.

Florida A&M put four players in double figures, led by Qiana Donald with 16 points. Antonia Bennett added 14 points, Jasmine Grice 13 and Tameka McKelton 10 for the Lady Rattlers. Bennett also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for a double-double.

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UAB plays like Alcorn State but wins 22-0

Photo: UAB Kicker Swayze Waters

STEVE IRVINE, Birmingham

Waters sets record as Blazers pitch shutout over Alcorn State

Want to take an optimistic view of UAB's 22-0 non-conference victory over Alcorn State on Saturday night at Legion Field?

Then focus on Swayze Waters' school-record five field goals and the Blazers' first defensive shutout since 1999.

For you pessimists out there, why couldn't UAB put the ball in the end zone more than once? And, really, how impressive is a shutout of an Alcorn State team that has scored 13 points in three games?

For the record, Neil Callaway can see both sides - at least as far as his offense is concerned.

"It was great what he (Waters) did because he made them all and, really, I don't think there was any question on any of them," said Callaway, after his team improved to 1-2. "On the other hand, we wished we could score a few more touchdowns."

Regardless, linebacker Joe Henderson was pleased Callaway won for the first time as a head coach.

"I felt good to get him a win and see a smile on his face because he doesn't smile very often," Henderson said. "He's tough on us, so we're happy to see him smiling and happy."

Take away the offense's inability to put the ball in the end zone and the Blazers did several things on Saturday night not only to make Callaway happy but to please a crowd of 21,828.

The most important thing was breaking an eight-game losing streak. Before Saturday night, the last time UAB went home victorious was when it beat Memphis at Legion Field on Oct. 7, 2006.

"It means a lot," said safety Will Dunbar. "That losing taste that you've got in your mouth is finally out. You got to get used to winning again. It just gives a big boost to us and is a confidence builder."

Obviously, it was the defense that spearheaded the streak-breaking victory.

The defense took turns being stifling and optimistic. The Blazers allowed the Braves (0-3) just 233 yards in offense. When Alcorn State did get moving in the first half, Henderson and Dunbar stepped up to end drives with interceptions. In the end, it was the Blazers' first shutout in the past 91 games - dating to a 47-0 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Oct. 2, 1999.

"We turned the ball over inside of their territory two or three times and that hurt us," said Alcorn State head coach Johnny Thomas. "You can't do that against a good football team like UAB."

The game would have been more nerve-wracking for the Blazers without those turnovers because UAB had trouble getting the ball in the end zone.

Three promising first-half drives ended up with Waters converting on field goals of 42, 32 and 52 yards. Two promising second-half drives ended with Waters drilling field goals of 22 and 38 yards.

When he was through, Waters set a school record and tied a Conference USA mark for field goals in a game. But the Blazers would have preferred that Waters wasn't so busy.

"It always drives you crazy when you can't score touchdowns," said fullback David Sigler. "But points are points. It was just a bunch of little things we need to correct to score some touchdowns."

The only touchdown of the night came when quarterback Sam Hunt floated a pass to Sigler in the right flat that Sigler turned into a 4-yard score.

It gave UAB a 16-0 halftime lead.

Other than Waters, the most promising offensive performance came from former Homewood standout Brandon Thornton, who started in place of a banged-up Rashaud Slaughter. Thornton, playing for the first time in a UAB uniform, carried the ball 21 times for 89 yards even though he claimed to be rusty. Jim Mitchell chipped in with 78 yards on 12 carries as the Blazers gained 211 net yards rushing on 45 carries.

Attendance: 21,828