Feb. 13, 2008

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WINSTON-SALEM, NC - Pink was an unlucky color for the Winston-Salem State Lady Rams (2-19), who suffered a 65-52 loss to the Longwood Lancers (13-13), Wednesday evening. For the second game in a row, the Lady Rams saw a second half slump eliminate a solid first half of play. After holding the lead for much of the first half and trailing by just five points at halftime, the Lady Rams allowed 38 second half points to the Lancers to take their third straight loss.

The Lady Rams donned pink uniforms in support of the WBCA's "Think Pink" Initiative in addition to a number of breast cancer awareness activities and helped to raise money for the North Carolina affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The event also helped raise money for the Sister Speak Foundation, a breast cancer research foundation. The highlight of the evening proved to be the halftime recognition of breast cancer survivors.

Fouls proved costly in the game with the Lady Rams committing a season-high 23 fouls in the game. Five of the seven Lady Rams that suited up for the game had at least three fouls in the game and four finished the game with at least four fouls. The game was a tough one for the Lady Rams who shot 34.0% from the field and committed 26 turnovers in the loss. For the game, the Lady Rams had more turnovers (26) than field goals (17). The Lady Rams' backcourt duo of freshmen guards Corbin Bradford and Rene Rector scored 13 points each in the loss while fellow freshman forward Jalesa Byrd added eight points. WSSU freshman forward Vontisha Woods led the WSSU rebounding effort with 11 rebounds.

Longwood took advantage of the Lady Rams' struggles scoring 14 points off WSSU turnovers. Lancer senior guard Keiva Small led the way for the Lancers with 18 points and 13 rebounds in the game. Junior guard Cortney Dyer added 12 points for the Lancers.

The Lady Rams got off to a strong start battling some early turnovers and miscues to jump out to an early 12-6 lead on a three pointer by freshman guard Nikki Kee. The Lady Ram defense dominated the first half as Longwood had more turnovers (11) than points for the first 12 minutes of the game. However, key fouls down the stretch of the half would handcuff the Lady Rams and help Longwood gain their first lead of the game with 4:20 left in the half. The two teams would trade leads in the final minutes before a Longwood lay-up with 1:29 left in the first half would put the Lancers ahead for good. A Lancer lay-up with 00:03 left in the half would leave the Lady Rams trailing, 27-22.

The Lady Rams would come out strong to start the second half as five straight WSSU points would pull the Lady Rams to within one point, 30-31 with 17:37 left to play. However, a critical scoring drought would hit the Lady Rams hard as the squad would not score again for the next 10 minutes of play and allowed Longwood to run off 22 unanswered points and claim control of the game for good. By the time WSSU freshman center Nora Campbell hit a jumper to snap the skid, the Lady Rams trailed the Lancers, 32-53 with 7:18 left to play. The young Lady Rams would battle for the final seven minutes of the game, cutting the Longwood lead down as low as 12 points in the game. The final two minutes of the game saw the young Lady Rams display some solid play going on a 10-1 run and cutting their deficit down to as few as 12 points on a pair of free throws by WSSU freshman forward Jalesa Byrd. However, the Lady Rams could get no closer. The emotion of the game got the best of WSSU head coach Dee Stokes who was issued a double-techinical foul and was ejected from the game with 00:23 left on the clock. The night ended with the Lady Rams taking a 52-65 loss.

The team will return to action this weekend when they head to Washington, D.C. to take on the Howard Lady Bison in a Saturday match-up at the Burr Gymnasium.