By james art 
TALLAHASSEE, FL –– The second season of Coach Gordon’s era is underway as they host Howard University for their season opener.
The Rattlers enter the season with much higher expectations after making the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) tournament as a 7-seed in 2024, making the tournament for the first time in their three seasons in the SWAC.
The Rattlers have some big shoes to fill with the loss of the 2024 SWAC Player of the Year. Ariana Grizzle. Still, they are fortunate to return their second-leading scorer and a preseason All-SWAC Second Team player Olivia Delancey. Delancy graduated 2024 season, averaged 12.1 points per game and scored a season-high 29 points against Bethune-Cookman. Delancey also had 10+ points in 17 games. The Rattlers have eight other returners, with six of the returners playing in at least 15 games.
The Rattlers also added eight new players to the roster, with the biggest name to watch being Sabu Gueyethe transfer guard from New Mexico State. Other newcomers to watch are Tahnia Purifoy, Monique Judge, Zekeiah Carter, D’Mya Griffin, Yves Alexander, Cheyenne McEvansand Sage Glover.
Howard enters the game after having a strong season last year, finishing second in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) with a 10-4 record and making it to the MEAC Championship Game. Like the Rattlers, the Bison lost their leading scorer, but return their second leading scorer in guard Tyana Walker. Walker averaged 11.3 points per game and scored 10+ points 19 times.
The game will advice on Monday, November 4th at 6:30pm ET on Rattlers+. Tomorrow’s the game will also be free admission for the opening.
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