Box Score ORANGEBURG, S.C. – Florida A&M's Dawn King scored a game-high 26 points on 11-15 shooting from the field to lift the visiting Lady Rattlers to a 55-50 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference win over South Carolina State Saturday at Smith-Hammond Middleton Memorial Center. The contest was the league opener for both squads.

Kourtney Williams connected for 18 points and Toni Grier 10 and a team-high six rebounds for the host Lady Bulldogs, who were unable to overcome cold shooting from the field. SC State made just 17-of-61 attempts for a dismal 27.9 percent accuracy.

"We missed a lot of shots," said SC State head coach Doug Robertson, Jr. "And, many of our misses came inside on easy attempts. We had enough opportunities but just failed to capitalize on them. It's important that we are ready to play against Bethune-Cookman on Monday so we can get a split in our two-game home stand."

The loss, the first at home for Robertson's squad, dropped SC State to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in the MEAC.

Florida A&M canned 46.9 percent of its attempts from the field, making 23-of-49 tries while improving to 3-4 on the season and 1-0 in the league. The Lady Rattlers also enjoyed a slight edge on the boards, grabbing 38 rebounds to 36 for the Lady Bulldogs. Khaderja Young, who finished with eight points and Jamie Foreman each had eight boards for the visitors.

Following two early ties, the last one at 10-10 with 14:59 left in the opening half, Florida A&M moved out to an 18-12 advantage on a jumper by Taneka Rubin with 8:20 in the first period. A 3-pointer by SC State's Ashleigh Outler closed the gap to 18-15 before a 4-1 Lady Bulldog run deadlocked the contest at 19-all when Brittany Drumgoole made one of two from the line for SC State with 4:30 left.

There were two lead changes and one tie before the two teams broke for halftime with the game tied at 25-all.

The Lady Bulldogs started the final stanza with a 12-7 run to build a 37-32 advantage on Grier's long-range jumper with 15:27 remaining. Amber Howard, who finished with seven points for SC State, also had a 3-pointer during the run.

The Lady Rattlers chipped away at the lead and pulled into a 39-all tie when King, who had three baskets from behind the arc on the night, connected from long range with10:32 to play. Following an SC State turnover, King got inside for a layup, igniting a 12-2 run the put Florida A&M in control of the game 51-41 with just 3:46 on the clock.
The Lady Bulldogs closed the gap to 53-47 on two free throws by Grier with 1:09 left but couldn't get closer as their comeback was foiled by back-to-back turnovers in the final minute as the Lady Rattlers hung on for the win.

SC State returns to the court on Monday to meet Bethune-Cookman in the first game of an MEAC doubleheader, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

The contest is free admission to all SC State employees with a valid SC State-issued ID. General admission is $7 and reserved seating $10.