Florida A&M women’s basketball couldn’t come away with the season-opening victory over Howard on Monday.

But second-year Rattlers head coach Bridgette Gordon exudes confidence in her team after faltering at home to the Bison 78-66.

“That was a good test for us early. I wish we could’ve come away with the win,” Gordon told the media in her postgame press conference. “A year later, I feel a lot better sitting in this seat than I did one year ago.”

Free throws and shooting percentage were the culprits of the Rattlers’ (0-1) versus Howard.

FAMU shot just 12 of 24 (50 percent) from the charity stripe, making 37 percent of its field goals. Meanwhile, Howard went 12 of 19 (63 percent) and shot 53 percent from the floor.

Still, the Rattlers remained in the game until the Bison pulled away in the fourth quarter for the 12-point victory.

“The game of inches,” Gordon said. “You see that this is a ballclub that can get better and a team that can go out and play with the best of the best.”

FAMU may have a new rising star in junior guard D’Mya Griffin, who scored a team-high 19 points off the bench and drained five of seven three-pointers on Monday.

Griffin transferred to FAMU from East Georgia State this offseason after earning last season’s Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Player of the Year honors at her previous school.

Gordon said Griffin had been struggling to shoot the ball in recent practices before catching fire Monday night.

In total, the Rattlers had 43 bench points.

“It was a huge lift because she had been in a drought shooting the ball,” Gordon said. “But the [the team] kept telling D’Mya to shoot the ball. Shooters shoot. And I gave her the green light to shoot the ball.”

FAMU forward Sydney Hendrix had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Players Gordon expects to have bounce-back performances moving forward are incumbent leading scorer guard Olivia Delancy and New Mexico State transfer guard Sabou Gueye.

Delancy made one of three attempts, scoring three points. Gueye shot 3-11 and scored seven points.

So, if all players are performing well, Gordon feels Monday is just the tip of the iceberg for the Rattlers.

“You will have a different player that can show up in the box score and lead us in scoring,” Gordon said.

The Rattlers travel to the Florida Gators (1-0) on Thursday at 5 p.m. for a non-conference game. The Gators defeated Florida Atlantic on Monday 82-54.

FAMU men's basketball falls at Texas Christian

FAMU men’s basketball couldn’t leave Fort Worth victorious, faltering at Texas Christian 105-59.

Rattlers transfer guard Sterling Young led the team with 16 points.

FAMU men’s basketball travels to Southern Methodist on Thursday for a non-conference game. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

Gerald Thomas, III is a multi-time award-winning journalist for his coverage of the Florida A&M Rattlers at the Tallahassee Democrat.

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.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: How FAMU's basketball teams fared in opening day games vs Howard, TCU