FAMU women's basketball falls in opener at UCF ahead of FSU showdown

Florida A&M women’s basketball couldn’t pick up a season-opening victory in Orlando. On Tuesday, the Rattlers (0-1) visited the Big 12 Conference opponent, the University of Central Florida (1-0), and left with an 85-56 loss at Orlando’s Addition Financial Arena. University of Dayton transfer guard/forward Kamryn Grant led the Rattlers with 18 points. She’s the only FAMU player who reached double figures. Meanwhile, the UCF Knights had five double-digit scores. Guard Key Roseby had a game-high 22 points. The difference on Tuesday was rebounding and field goal percentage. UCF won the battle on the boards 50-32 and shot 49% compared to FAMU’s 28%. The Rattlers forced 21 Knights turnovers; they had 20 themselves. A good sign for the Rattlers was that they kept pace in the fourth quarter and actually outscored UCF 23-22. They also had 31 bench points compared to UCF’s 23. The Rattlers next face the Florida State Seminoles for an all-Tallahassee showdown this Sunday at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Tipoff is at 2 p.m. FSU (1-0) is fresh off beating Merrimack 81-51 on Monday. Gerald Thomas, III, is a multi-time national award-winning reporter for his coverage of the  Florida A&M Rattlers  at the Tallahassee Democrat under the USA TODAY Network. Follow his award-winning coverage on  RattlerNews.com  and contact him via email at  GDThomas@Tallahassee.com  or on the app formerly known as Twitter  @3peatgee .