The FAMU women’s basketball team won its’ third straight game after outlasting a determined Savannah State University squad, 60-53 in non-conference play Wednesday evening in the Alfred Lawson Center.FAMU (8-3), was led by sophomore Tameka McKelton with 18 points, senior LaShonda Gaines with 16 points and sophomore Antonia Bennett with 14 points. Sophomore Qiana Donald added eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Savannah State (8-11) was sparked by Crissa Jackson with 10 points and Kymberli Stamps with eight points. Alisha Nelson added seven points and eight rebounds.
Cold shooting and turnovers kept the game low-scoring, as FAMU shot 36.8 percent from the floor (21 of 57) and 33 percent (7 of 21) from three-point range, against 43.2 percent (19 of 44) from the floor for Savannah State, which hit 31.3 percent (5 of 16) from three-point range, while the two teams combined for 51 turnovers (27 by Savannah State and 24 by FAMU).
In the first half, the Lady Rattlers built a quick 8-2 lead thanks to three-pointers by McKelton and Christian Rateree, but a seven-minute scoring drought by FAMU allowed Savannah State to hang close.
Gabrielle Bennett’s jumper with 10:20 left cut the FAMU lead to 8-6, but Antonia Bennett and Gaines led a 7-0 Lady Rattler surge, boosting their lead to 15-6.
Savannah State went on a 9-3 run late in the second half, to cut the FAMU lead to 18-15, but the Lady Rattlers regained control of the game with a 7-2 closing flurry, led by Gaines, who scored five points in the stretch run, leading to a 25-17 halftime edge.
In the second half, things heated up as FAMU quickly built a 12-point lead thanks to a pair of baskets by McKelton, which staked them to a 29-17 lead with 19:22 left.
Savannah State, which outgunned FAMU, 60 percent to 37.9 percent from the floor in the final stanza, went on a 10-0 surge led by Treasure Monroe and Mattisha Mangum, to pull within two points, 29-27 with 16:33 left.
Qiana Donald scored on back-to-back layups to push FAMU out to a six-point advantage, 33-27 with 15:38 left, then Antonia Bennett scored five straight points to extend the Lady Rattler edge to 38-28 with 12:33 to play. Bennett added a three-pointer as FAMU went on a 13-2 run to surge ahead, 46-30 with 9:52 to go.
The visiting Lady Tigers would not fold though, putting together a 23-11 run in the next eight minutes, capped by a three-pointer from Stamps (1:17) to cut the lead to 57-51, before a Courtney Long layup (1:03) brought the lead down to 57-53.
But FAMU’s Gaines cashed in three foul shots in the final 22 seconds to provide the final margin, 60-53.