A strong defensive effort was not enough as the Winston-Salem State Lady Rams (4-16) took a 72-48 loss to the Radford Highlanders (7-6), Tuesday night at the
Senior center Shalonda Carter led the way for the Lady Rams with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks off the bench, but the effort was not enough. Freshman guard Ja'Pel Sumpter, along with junior guard Latoya Armstrong added eight points each in the game for the Lady Rams. Sophomore forward Candace Saunders added 11 rebounds as well.
The first half turned out to be a story of runs with the two teams trading scoring runs and forcing an up-tempo contest that saw few fouls, but number of missed shots. The Lady Rams scored the first basket of the contest, but missed the their next three shots giving up an 8-0 run by the Highlanders and falling behind, 8-2 through the first three minutes of the game. The WSSU continued to struggle while the Highlanders continued to run off a 16-3 lead, forcing a Lady Ram time out at the 14:45 mark. The offense struggled early in the game hitting just one field goal in the first five minutes of the game. Carter would end the scoreless skid by the Lady Rams scoring a lay-up that cut the WSSU deficit down to just 11 points, 16-5 with 12:57 left in the first half.
Carter would answer the call for the Lady Rams blocking a pair of Radford shots and sparking a six-point WSSU run that pulled the Lady Rams back into the game, 16-9 with 10:50 left in the half. In keeping with the theme of the first half, Radford responded scoring five unanswered points and regaining control of the game, 21-9 with just over nine minutes left in the half. The fast paced game led to missed opportunities at both ends as both Radford and WSSU struggling to find the basket in the next few minutes. Fouls and missed shots marked the final minutes of the half as the Lady Rams totaled just one field, but four fouls in the final three minutes of the half and took a 37-20 deficit into the locker room at the half.
The second half began in the same way that the first half ended with both teams pushing the ball with a lot of miscues. The two teams combined for just four field goals and five fouls in the first five minutes of the half, unfortunately for the Lady Rams, four of the fouls were against them. Radford went on to hit three of four free throws and stay on top, 42-26 with 15:29 left in the game. The pace of the game would slow down a bit with the Lady Rams turning up the defensive effort and cutting their deficit down to just 11 points, 46-35 on a lay-up by Armstrong. However, Radford would answer running off five unanswered points to stay on top, 51-35 with 10:06 left in the game.
The Lady Rams continued to battle down the stretch of the game, holding an 8-5 edge on field goals in the half through the first 12 minutes, but sent the Highlanders to the free throw line 13 times during the span, hampering their efforts to get back into the game. With just over five minutes left, the Lady Rams trailed, 60-41. The finals minutes saw Radford run off a 12-7 run and end the Lady Rams' threat, 72-48.
The Lady Rams will return to action on Saturday when they host the
|
|
 |
