Senior duo providing spark for FAMU women’s basketball

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It has been 21 years since Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University’s Women’s Basketball program brought home a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship, but the similarities between that 1994-95 team and the 2015-16 squad give Rattler fans some hope for a similar title run this season.

That now legendary 1994-95 team was coached by Claudette Farmer, who came back to her alma mater after winning more than 200 games at nearby Rickards High School. Her two key players were 1995 MEAC Player of the Year Natalie White, a guard who led the NCAA in steals (191 in 30 games) and a gifted scorer and rebounder in forward Cathy Robinson (19.8 points per game, 8.7 rebounds), who would win MEAC Player of the Year honors in 1996.

The 1995 FAMU team finished 24-6 overall, capturing the MEAC regular season and tournament titles, also becoming the first conference school ever to earn an automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

Fast forward to the 2015-16 FAMU team coached by LeDawn Gibson, a highly decorated high school coach in her own right at Winter Haven (Fla.) High (three state titles, five state finals), who is in her eighth season heading the FAMU Women’s program.

Gibson has had a number of standouts so far during her tenure at FAMU, including two previous MEAC Women’s Players of the Year in Antonia Bennett (2012) and Jasmine Grice (2014), along with MEAC Defensive Player of the Year Qiana Donald (2012). She presently has two top guns ready to join that impressive group.

Senior forward Olivia Antilla and senior guard Khadejra Young are heading FAMU’s resurgence on the floor in 2015-16 and are leading the MEAC, ranked among the NCAA leaders in statistical performance at midseason.

The Rattler women have played a demanding schedule, which has featured nationally-ranked North Carolina and ACC foe Clemson University. FAMU pulled off an after Christmas surprise on Tuesday, December 29, knocking off Clemson on the road, 77-68 after leading the Tigers the entire game.

A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Olivia Antilla is averaging a team-best of 16.1 points per game, and 5.4 rebounds per game through January 4, ranking in the Top 10 in scoring, rebounding, and three-point shooting in the MEAC.

Antilla, who knocked down 52 three-pointers as a junior in 2015, had cashed in on 41 long distance shots in the first 15 games of the season, which is ninth in NCAA Division One. She also ranks in the Top 25 nationally in three-point percentage (45.1 percent or 41 of 91) and the Top 40 in three-pointers made per game (2.73).

The sharpshooting Midwesterner has scored in double figures (10 or more points) in 14 of FAMU’s first 15 games, highlighted by a pair of 24-point performances against Southeastern Louisiana, and Clark-Atlanta – not to mention a 20-point effort in the win over Clemson, and 17 points against North Carolina.

She has recorded nine (9) games of three or more three-point goals made, hitting five of eight long-range shots against Southeastern Louisiana, and four of eight from distance against North Carolina.

Antilla is on pace to finish in the Top Ten on the FAMU single season three-point shooting list and should surpass her personal high mark of 52 three-pointers, which is eighth on the list at present.

Antilla’s senior teammate, Khadejra Young, a talented guard from Fort Lauderdale, is working on her second straight season ranked nationally in steals.

Young, who finished last season ranked in the NCAA’s Top 30 in steals, ranked seventh (7th) nationally in total steals with 44 through 15 games, and 25th in the nation in steals per game with a 2.93 average.

A versatile performer who has played both point guard and off guard, Young has had six games with at least four (4) or more steals, highlighted by six steals in the season opener against Florida International University and in the conference opener against South Carolina State. She also had five steals at North Carolina, and four steals against the University of California, Davis, and Clemson.

She is the fifth FAMU Women’s Basketball player to be ranked in the Top Ten nationally in steals during the season since 1988, joining April Manning (1988), Shelly Boston (1990, 1991), Natalie White (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995) and Jasmine Grice (2013, 2014).

The club’s second leading scorer at 12.3 points per, Young’s scoring efforts have been highlighted by a season-high 19 points coming against UC Davis in Los Angeles, and 18 points in the big road win at Clemson, just two of her 11 double figure scoring performances so far.

Young’s multi-tasking abilities have led to her almost quietly leading the team in rebounding, averaging 6.6 rebounds per game, with nine (9) games of seven or more. She pulled down a season high 11 rebounds against the University of New Orleans in November and 10 boards against Southeastern Louisiana. She had nine rebounds in the win over Clemson, to go with her 18 points and four steals, and in the pre-Christmas game against nationally-ranked Southern California, Young pulled down eight boards.

Rattler fans (and opponents) will have a lot to look forward to down the stretch of the 2015-16 season as the “Antilla and Young Show” continues to headline yet another FAMU Women’s Basketball title chase.
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