Dec. 2, 2006

Final Stats

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - Shalonda Carter's 17 points and 15 rebounds led the Winston-Salem State University Lady Rams women's basketball team over the New Jersey Institute of Technology Highlanders at the C.E. Gaines Center in Winston-Salem, NC on Saturday evening. 

It was a matchup of two teams that were very similar on paper.  Neither team possessed tremendous depth, and both are making the transition to the NCAA Division I level.

However, the similarities on paper is where the likenesses would end as the Lady Rams proved to be the more athletic team as the WSSU athleticism led to forcing 30 NJIT turnovers that were converted into 30 points.

The Lady Rams started the contest on an 18-4 run to open up a 14-point lead that they would never relinquish en route to their second win of the season, and their second win of the Division I era at WSSU.

Turning in their best shooting first half of the season, WSSU hit 43.8% of their first-half field goal attempts (14-of-32) and were able to carry their largest lead of the year into the locker room at halftime as WSSU held a 17-point advantage at 32-15 after 20 minutes of play.

The second half of play would nearly mirror the contest's first 20 minutes as the Lady Rams saw their lead shrink to as little as 13 points before mounting a 36-18 run to close the contest as they ran away with the 72-41 win.

"I am real proud of our effort tonight.  We wanted to come out and play extremely hard on the defensive end of the ball and we did just that.  When you play defense you win games.  Overall I thought it was a great team win" WSSU head coach Dee Stokes said in postgame interviews.

Carter led four Lady Rams into double figures as Lavontay Johnson led all scorers with 21 points.  In addition to Carter and Johnson, the Lady Rams benefited from Ja'Pel Sumpter's and Kadina Baldwin's 10 points in the win.

Leading the way for the Highlanders was Lesley Hendricks who tallied 10 points in the loss as she was the only New Jersey Institute of Technology player in double-figures.

The win improves WSSU to 2-6 overall while NJIT falls to 2-5 with the loss.   The Lady Rams return to action on December 5, 2006 at 7:00 pm when they play host to Appalachian State University at the C.E. Gaines Center.

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.

- wssurams.com -