Feb. 5, 2005
Durham, NC - The Winston-Salem State University Lady Rams basketball team suffered their sixth consecutive loss of the season on Saturday night as they fell in defeat 76-71 in double-overtime to the Lady Eagles of North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC to fall to 10-10 overall (2-7 CIAA).
For the early portions of the half, the two teams traded baskets with neither team establishing offensive control of the contest as the Lady Rams and Lady Eagles were not separated by more than two points.
However, the latter-third of the half would prove detrimental to the Lady Rams as the home-team Lady Eagles used a 7-0 spurt to pull ahead by as many as 11 points, leading 27-16 with 4:06 to play in the first half.
The Lady Eagles, behind the strong interior presence of their 6'4" junior center Shante' Collins (Plymouth, NC), controlled the offensive and defensive paint, forcing Winston-Salem State to settle for perimeter jump shots.
The Lady Rams, forced to shoot from further out due to Collins' pair of blocks, eight rebounds and imposing inside presence, hit only seven of 30 field goal attempts in the half for a shooting percentage of 23.3%.
The poor shooting was not the Lady Rams' only concern as turnovers were once again an issue as WSSU gave the ball away 12 times in the half, with NCCU gladly turning a dozen WSSU turnovers into 11 points.
Despite the first-half difficulties, the Lady Rams would trail the Lady Eagles by only nine points at halftime as WSSU stared at a 29-20 deficit heading into the locker room for intermission.
Despite cutting down on turnovers in the second half, WSSU was unable to trim the NCCU lead down to closer than a five-point spread until the midway point of the half as the Lady Eagles continued to have firm control over the game.
However, it would be three consecutive NCCU turnovers that got WSSU back into the contest as the Lady Rams cut the Lady Eagle lead to only three points at the 9:41 mark of the second half, trailing 42-39.
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WSSU was not without their trademark heart and effort as Shalonda Carter (Fayetteville, NC) recorded her 9th double-double of the season, and her third consecutive double-double en route to 20 points and 17 rebounds. Carter led the Lady Rams in both points and rebounds in the game as all five WSSU starters recorded double-digit scoring performances.
The final two minutes of the game were heated ones as the Lady Rams cut the NCCU lead from eight points to only two points at 58-56 on a pair of Nikki Eason (Greenville, SC) free-throws.
Eason followed up her free throws with a fast-break lay-up 50 seconds later to tie the contest at 58-58 as the intense WSSU defense held NCCU without a field goal for over three minutes.
With the score knotted at 58-58, and 24.5 seconds on the clock, Kadina Baldwin drove to the basket where she was fouled, sending her to the free-throw line to attempt to give WSSU its first lead of the game.
Baldwin's free throw attempts would both fail to connect, as would a last-second Shalonda Carter jumper, as the two teams would need two overtime periods to decide the game's final outcome. The end of the first overtime saw the score tied at 63-63 as WSSU squandered a five-point lead, forcing the second extra session.
The second overtime period would belong to the Lady Eagles as mounting turnovers and missed jump shots would plague the Lady Rams, ultimately proving to be the deciding factor in the WSSU loss, their sixth straight.
NCCU was paced by Cassie King (Wendell, NC) who led the Lady Eagles with 31 points and 17 rebounds. She was joined in double figures by Karla Gamble (Albion, MI) who tallied 15 points.
With the loss, the Lady Rams fall to 10-10 overall (2-7 CIAA) as WSSU has now lost their last six games. The win improves the Lady Eagles to 10-10 overall (6-3 CIAA) as NCCU has now won their last six games.
The Lady Rams return to action on Tuesday, February 8th, 2005 at the LJVM Coliseum Annex as they play host to the Lady Falcons of Saint Augustine's College. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 pm.
For additional information on WSSU women's basketball, contact the WSSU Office of Sports Information at (336) 750-2143 or log on to the Official Website of WSSU Athletics at www.WSSURAMS.com
