Jan. 25, 2005
Winston-Salem, NC - The Lady Rams of Winston-Salem State University played host to the Lady Trojans of Virginia State University on Tuesday evening at the LJVM Coliseum Annex as WSSU was looking to even their record in home games away from the C.E. Gaines Center to 1-1 overall. The Lady Rams would not be able to accomplish that goal as a less-than-desired 42.9% shooting night from the free throw-line would lead to a 68-64 loss in front of over 1,300 spectators.
The Lady Trojans would draw first blood in the contest as they scored only 20 seconds into the game to grab the first lead of the evening at 2-0. For the contest's next two minutes, the teams would race up and down the length of the court until knotting the score at 6-6 with 18:00 minutes to play in the first period.
WSSU would take their first lead of the game on a 15-foot Janet Robinson jumper with exactly 16:00 minutes to play in the first half. The Robinson jumper would prove to be the catalyst for the game's first big run as the Lady Rams would use a 9-2 spurt which Robinson would cap with another 15-footer to make it 15-8, giving WSSU a seven-point cushion.
The Lady Trojans would use a run of their only moments later as they would pull the game to nearly even, cutting the WSSU lead to as little as two points.
However, it would be the Lady Rams who would once again pull back out in front in the contest as the half wound to a close. Using the strength of their very deep bench, WSSU got solid minutes from Latoya Armstrong, Tonda Motley and Tierra Rudd as the Rams inched slightly further ahead of the road-weary Lady Trojans.
The Trojans would continue to benefit from WSSU first-half turnovers as they kept the game close, yet the Rams, despite playing sloppy basketball, would maintain their lead due to the stellar play of frontcourt duo, Tiffany Tonkins and Janet Robinson.
|
|
 |
Tonkins would lead the way in the first half tallying 12 points, pulling down seven rebounds, collecting a pair of blocks and a trio of assists in 18 minutes of work. She would be joined in double figures by teammate Janet Robinson who recorded 10 points and three rebounds in the same 18 minutes as WSSU found themselves holding a 3-point lead at the halftime intermission, ahead 36-33.
The second half of play would start with a surprise for fans of WSSU basketball as head coach John Williams would start the half with All-CIAA candidate Shalonda Carter on the bench in favor of true freshman Cherena Douglass.
WSSU would go immediately to Douglass who used a strong post move to record her first basket of the game only seconds into the half, putting WSSU's lead at five points, leading 38-33.
The Lady Trojans would take several minutes to warm up coming out of the locker room as they would go over four minutes without a field goal, as VSU was relegated to only free throws until a Laurice Lockhart jumper broke the drought at the 13:52 mark of the half.
Despite the drought, the Lady Rams would lead by only seven points in the game as the host-team could not seem to pull away from the pesky Lady Trojans. The Rams' lack of being able to finish off the Lady Trojans away would prove to haunt them only moments later as another Lockhart jumper gave the Trojans their first lead since the game's opening moments as VSU led 48-47 with 8:36 left to play in the contest.
Janet Robinson would knot the game at 48-48 as she hit WSSU's first free throw of the half after seven consecutive misses to give a spark of life to a listless Lady Ram team.
The two teams would trade blows for the remainder of the contest with WSSU's poor free-throw shooting leading to their failure to maintain a sizable lead, and ultimately be the major factor in the loss.
With the loss the Lady Rams fall to 10-6 overall (2-2 CIAA, 1-1 CIAA West) while the Lady Trojans move to 6-9 overall (2-3 CIAA, 1-2 CIAA East).
Leading the way for the Lady Rams was Janet Robinson with 18 points in the contest as she and Tiffany Tonkins (14 points, 12 rebounds) did all that they could in a losing effort. Pacing the Lady Trojans were Laurice Lockhart and Jennifer Rhodan with a dozen points each.
The Lady Rams return to action on Thursday, January 27th, 2005 as they travel to Charlotte, NC to face off against the Lady Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith University in a matchup of the top two teams in the CIAA's Western Division. Game time is slated for 7:00 pm from Brayboy Gymnasium on the campus of JCSU.
For additional information on WSSU women's basketball, contact the WSSU Office of Sports Information at (336) 740-2143 or log on to the Official Website of WSSU Athletics at www.WSSURAMS.com
