Tallahassee, Fla. - The Jacksonville women's basketball team fell against Florida A&M 59-54 in a nearly completed comeback attempt Saturday afternoon in Al Lawson Center
Saniyah Craig led the Dolphins in scoring with 16 points while adding six rebounds. The 16 was Craig's new season high.
This game never fell short of intense, Jacksonville led six minutes of the first quarter while shooting 62.5 percent from the field despite them being down one after the first horn. Makyla Edwards set the tone early with aggressive defense after missing the last game from an injury. Keyshonna Brown fed off the energy and opened the scoring battle with a deep left wing three off a full court assist by Bre'Yanna Frazier to put Jacksonville up 3-0 two minutes into quarter. After subbing in, it didn't take freshman of the week Saniyah Craig long to hop on the board herself with two quick back-to-back buckets to put JU up 7-4 with 5:34 remaining. Florida A&M eventually took a short-lasting lead that was erased by Asiana britt, a 66 percent 3-point shooter, who sank a three, to put the Dolphins up 10-8. The quarter ended in a 13-12 lead for FAMU after six lead changes.
As the second quarter progressed, the magnitude of intensity remained high, both sides eager to add a win to their record. The JU bench proved it by having 13 of the Dolphins' 24 points by the middle of the second. After Edyn Battle scored the first point of the second quarter FAMU went on a quick 5-0 run to see them with an 18-13 lead. The quarter continued as a back-and-forth scoring match that saw Florida A&M with a 23-20 lead with 5:13 remaining. A stall in scoring was broken for the Dolphins as a possession with three offensive rebounds and putback attempts was converted strongly by Craig to cut a nine-point Rattler lead to seven, 27-22 with 2:32 left in the half. The quarter ended with two more conversions from both sides, resulting in a score of 29-24 in favor of FAMU.
Opening the third quarter, a demoralizing 10-2 run for the Rattlers gave them an edge, making the score 39-26 for FAMU with 5:50 left. Craig, a force in the paint, shrunk the 13-point lead to 11 with a strong left-handed finish to notch her 10th point of the night and break a 9-0 run by Florida A&M with 4:48 remaining. The ladies continued to compete; a few controversial calls led to a FAMU lead of 46-32, the largest of the night. Jalisa Dunlap and Makayla Edwards helped Dolphins regain momentum in the final minutes of the quarter to give FAMU only an 11-point cushion.
The fourth quarter saw both teams come out firing, Craig opened with another strong possession in the paint that was combatted by a FAMU three to make the count 50-38 for the Rattlers. Battle then provided more relief as she knocked down a corner three to shrink the lead to just nine. Battle then capitalized on defense gaining a steal and going coast-to-coast to shrink the Florida A&M lead to seven with 7:00 remaining. The Dolphin defense benefitted from the offensive momentum, as they knocked down two transition threes by Battle and Frazier shrinking the lead to a close five. After a long 2-minuet possession by the Dolphins, Battle finally got off a good-looking three that lead to a board and putback by Craig, reducing the deficit to three with 3:28 remaining. Dunlap then seized an opportunity, driving hard to the basket after another defensive stop, drawing a foul, and sinking two free throws to give the Rattlers their smallest lead of the night, 55-53. fortunately, despite Dolphins fighting back from a 14-point disadvantage, the game ended in a battle of free-throws that left the Dolphins short by the final horn.
UP NEXT
The Dolphins will head to Daytona Beach to take on their second SWAC contender Bethune Cookman. The game is set for Tuesday, November 28 at 6 p.m. and will broadcast on YouTube.
NOTEABLE NUMBERS
