March 1, 2005
Raleigh, NC - The age-old cliché is that the "third time is a charm," and that is exactly what it was for the Lady Rams on Tuesday evening as they were able to defeat the top-seeded Lady Broncos of Fayetteville State University in the second round of the 2005 CIAA Women's Basketball Tournament by the score of 70-60, avenging a pair of losses to FSU that they sustained during the regular-season.
The first half of play was one that both teams would just as soon forget as neither team shot better than 32% from the field as the Lady Rams and Lady Broncos combined to miss 45 of their 65 first-half field goal attempts for a combined shooting percentage of 30.7%.
The Lady Rams were percentage points ahead of the Lady Broncos in the shooting department as they connected on 10 of their 31 field goal attempts (32.3%) in comparison to FSU's 10 of 34 shooting performance (29.4%).
Despite the narrow shooting advantage, the Lady Rams would trail the top-seeded Lady Broncos by two points at the halftime intermission as Fayetteville State held a 29-27 lead after 20 minutes of play.
The first half difference would be an unexpected one as the guard-laden Lady Broncos tore a page out of the Lady Rams' playbook and used a strong inside game to outscore WSSU in the paint 18-8.
WSSU forwards Shalonda Carter and Tiffany Tonkins and center Cherena Douglass combined for only 10 points during the first half as they failed to capitalize on their size advantage over the smaller Lady Broncos.
The surprisingly non-existent post-up game was not the only cause for concern for John Williams and his coaching staff as turnovers would once again raise their ugly head as the Lady Rams tallied 11 of them in the first half which the Lady Broncos turned into eight points.
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Despite WSSU's lackluster play during the first 20 minutes, the Lady Rams would face only a two-point deficit as they headed into the second half.
The Lady Rams would come out of the locker room executing a completely different game plan in the second half after Head Coach John Williams used a halftime speech to implore his team to get the ball inside to his taller and stronger forwards.
Commenting on his second-half game plan, WSSU Head Coach John Williams stated, "Down the stretch, we made those inside shots when it really counted, and we made a couple of those and-one shots, and man, I am just happy for the girls. They really executed the game plan that we designed, and we feel good right now, but the work isn't finished."
The interior game plan of which Williams spoke paid dividends just over six minutes into the second half as Shalonda Carter helped the Lady Rams regain the lead at 39-37 when she scored her first field goal of the game on a strong inside post move with 13:18 remaining in the game.
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"I can't feel any better right now. I mean, I always heard being from Fayetteville that I should have gone to FSU, especially after losing to them twice this year. But we said to ourselves that the third time was definitely going to be a charm, and it was."
WSSU Forward, Shalonda Carter
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As was the case in the pair of meetings between the Lady Rams and Lady Broncos during the regular-season, this meeting would also come down to the game's final moments.
With four minutes to play in the contest, the Lady Rams would mount an impressive 7-0 run as Latoya Armstrong recorded seven consecutive points over the span of only 36 seconds.
In a series of plays reminiscent of NBA All-Star Reggie Miller's legendary performance versus the New York Knicks, Armstrong would drill a long three-point field goal, record a steal and a lay-up and convert a pair of free throws all in just over half a minute to give WSSU a seven-point advantage.
That seven-point swing is what would ultimately prove to be the difference in the game as the Lady Rams snapped a three-game losing skid to the Lady Broncos that spanned two seasons.
Leading WSSU to their second win in as many days was Shalonda Carter who recorded 13 points and tallied 13 rebounds as she led three Lady Rams in double-figures.
With the win, the Lady Rams improve to 15-14 overall and advance to face the Lady Vikings of Elizabeth City State University in the first game of Friday's semifinal round at 1:00 PM.
The win also marks the farthest that current Head Coach John Williams has led the Lady Rams during his three-season tenure at WSSU and the farthest WSSU has made it in the CIAA Tournament since losing in the championship in 2002.
