Feb. 12, 2005

Final Stats

Winston-Salem, NC - The Winston-Salem State Lady Rams, who broke a seven-game losing streak on Tuesday evening, seem to have gotten back on track as they easily handled one of the nation's hottest teams, the Lady Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith University, defeating their CIAA rival at the C.E. Gaines Center by the score of 70-59 on Saturday afternoon.

The first half of play saw the Lady Rams jump out to an early 5-0 lead as Shalonda Carter (Fayetteville, NC) started off the scoring with a 14-foot jump shot to break the game's opening deadlock.

Following a block, freshman center Cherena Douglass (Springfield, IL) pulled down a rebound and ran the length of the floor to take a feed and put home an easy lay-up to give WSSU a 4-0 lead, marking the first time that the Lady Rams had led an opponent 4-0 since January 11th at Saint Augustine's College.

Johnson C. Smith immediately showed why they are the fifth-ranked team in the South Atlantic Region as they stormed back from what would become a 7-2 deficit as they put together a 5-2 run to cut the WSSU lead to two points at 9-7 with 14:11 to play in the first half of play.

The Lady Rams would immediately answer the challenge put forth by the Lady Golden Bulls as WSSU went on a 14-3 run over the next 6:08 of play to increase their lead to a first-half high of 13 points at 23-10.

As time wound down in the half, the Lady Rams would not be able to keep the lead in the double-digits as JCSU closed the half on a 4-0 run to trim the WSSU cushion to only nine points at the break.

The two teams headed to the locker room for the halftime intermission with WSSU holding a 31-22 halftime lead marking the first time since January 25th, 2005 (versus Saint Augustine's College) that the Lady Golden Bulls would trail an opponent at halftime.

Shalonda Carter would be well on her way to her 12th double-double of the season in the first half as she finished the first period of play with eight points and 10 rebounds. Leading the way for WSSU was Nikki Eason with nine points.

JCSU was led by Lauren Goss with nine points as she accounted for 41% of the Lady Golden Bulls' offense (nine of 22 total points).

The second half of play would see the Lady Rams continue to do the two things that had proved elusive during the 2004-05 season thus far...shoot well and hold a lead.

Despite Lauren Goss Scoring 21 Points, WSSU Easily Handled Johnson C. Smith On Saturday (Photo By Wade Nash)

WSSU continued to scorch the nets as they shot nearly 50% for the remainder of the contest, which, in turn, enabled the Lady Rams to keep their lead in near the double-digits for almost the entire second half.

WSSU was led by 2003-04 CIAA Rookie of the Year, and All-CIAA First-Team candidate Shalonda Carter who recorded 17 points and sixteen rebounds for yet another double-double in the contest.

Johnson C. Smith University was led by All-CIAA candidate, and potential CIAA Women's Player of the Year, Lauren Goss who recorded 23 points and 11 rebounds in a losing effort.

With the win, the Lady Rams improve to 12-11 overall and move to 4-8 in the CIAA (3-4 CIAA West) while the Lady Golden Bulls fall to 18-5 overall and 9-3 in the CIAA (4-3 CIAA West).

The Lady Rams will return to action on Tuesday, February 15th at 5:30 pm as they travel to Salisbury, NC to face off against the Lady Blue Bears of Livingstone College in an important CIAA Western Division women's basketball contest.

For additional information on WSSU women's basketball, contact the WSSU Office of Sports Information at (336) 750-2143 or log onto the Official Website of WSSU Athletics at www.WSSURAMS.com