TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –
Persais Williams and
Niah Rhodes each scored a game-high matching 16 points Thursday morning, as Florida A&M Women's Basketball erased a 19-point deficit to secure its first win of the 2026-27 season courtesy a 74-67 score line at home to Albany State inside the Al Lawson Center in Tallahassee, Florida.
More than 2,000 kids descended upon the Al Lawson Center as it was "Kids Day" with local elementary, middle and high schools visiting the FAMU campus for the game.
Persais Williams scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half, respectfully.
Niah Rhodes added 16 points and made three of the Rattlers' four 3-pointers.
Kamryn Grant scored 15 with six rebounds and two steals as Florida A&M outscored the Golden Rams 49-29 after halftime.
FAMU (1-2) trailed 38-25 at the break after shooting 4 of 28 from the field, including 1 of 13 in the second quarter.
Albany State (0-2) led by as many as 19 in that period, but the Rattlers cut the deficit to 54-47 on Grant's 3-pointer with five seconds left in the third quarter. That started a 12-0 run, which Williams finished with a layup to put the Orange and Green ahead 56-54 with 7:27 to play.
The Rattlers outscored Albany State 27-13 in the fourth quarter, shooting 11 of 15 while the Golden Rams went 3 of 14.
The game stayed tight until the end.
ASU took its last lead on Chloe Evans' free throws, 63-60 with 3:21 left.
Miya Giles-Jones answered with a layup, and Williams' putback with 1:59 remaining put FAMU ahead 64-63 for good. Rhodes hit two free throws to make it 66-63, and Grant tipped in a miss to push the margin to 68-63 with 1:21 left.
Grant then stole a pass and found
Shaniyah McCarthy for a fast-break layup that made it 72-65 with 32 seconds to go.
The Rattlers won the battle of the boards 50-34. Their 24 offensive rebounds produced 25 second-chance points, 11 more than ASU. Giles-Jones grabbed 11 rebounds, five of them on the offensive end, and McCarthy had four assists.
FAMU also scored 15 points off Albany State's 12 turnovers.
A cold-shooting first half saw the hosts connect on just 4-for-28 shooting, but stayed in the game with a 16-for-24 touch at the charity stripe. Meanwhile, the Golden Rams shots 46.7 percent from the floor in the opening half.
Sariah Johnson led Albany State with 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Evans scored 13. All three of Albany State's 3-pointers came in the first half, and the Golden Rams didn't attempt one after halftime.
The Rattlers will next visit West Florida on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 2 p.m., in Pensacola, Florida.
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