Tallahassee, Fla. ? Down just two points at halftime, the Stetson women's basketball team (1-7) had great difficulty denting the scoreboard in the second half as the Hatters fell 54-37 Monday evening at Florida A&M for their fifth consecutive defeat.
Ahead 24-22 at the half, the Lady Rattlers built their lead to 15, 39-24, with 13:00 to play in the game as part of a 28-7 overall run and were never seriously threatened. The Hatters went without a field goal in the second half until the 7:17 mark when sophomore forward Ashli Jackson (Opelika, Ala.) made a turnaround jumper in the paint. Overall, Stetson made just four field goals in the entire second half and was held under 50 points for the fifth straight outing.
Freshman guard Tierra Brown (Orlando, Fla./First Academy) scored 10 points for Stetson, the only Hatter in double digits, and dished out three assists. Classmate Brittany Carannante (Clearwater, Fla./Clearwater HS) added eight points while senior forward Vlendy Roldan (Kissimmee, Fla./Santa Fe C.C.) scored all six of her points in the first half, also grabbing 10 rebounds to tie her career high. Junior guard Sharnesha Smith (Kingsland, Ga.) came up with seven rebounds and five steals to go along with five points.
Stephanie Foster scored 13 points to lead Florida A&M while Q'Vaunda Curry contributed 12 points and Joslyne Jackson had nine. Denise Tate recorded 11 rebounds and four steals.
Stetson got off to a terrific start with a 13-2 run in the first five minutes, using several forced turnovers to create good looks at the basket. Florida A&M scored the next nine points, however, to cut the Hatter lead to two points with 12 minutes left in the first half.
The Hatters got two quick baskets off turnovers to restore their lead to six points at the second media timeout. Carannante drained a pull-up jumper on a fast break and Brown immediately followed by stealing the inbounds pass and hitting a short jump shot of her own.
An 11-5 Lady Rattler run drew FAMU even with 4:30 remaining in the half. Neither team scored for the next 90 seconds until a Kir sten Stallings layup on a fast break gave the home team its first lead at 24-22, which would prove to be the score at halftime.
Roldan had six points in the first half to lead Stetson while Carannante added five. Foster led all scorers with nine points for Florida A&M and Curry had six on a pair of three-pointers.
The Hatters now take a two-week break for final exams before hosting Southeastern Louisiana at the Edmunds Center Monday, Dec. 17. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
