Lady Rams Heading South to Face Savannah State - WINSTON-SALEM STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Jan. 18, 2007

The Lady Rams (4-17) have struggled mightily lately taking losses in their last six outings, but have been competitive at times and have shown a lot of potential in all six games. Saturday, the Lady Rams will head south to take on the Savannah State Lady Tigers at Tiger Arena in the first of two meetings this season.

Setting the Scene . . . Both teams head into Saturday's game looking to make a statement with both independent teams seeking to make a statement on the court. The Lady Rams head into Saturday's game looking to snap a six game losing streak.

Statements to be made . . . There may be a bit of bitterness felt whenever Savannah State and Winston-Salem State teams meet since Winston-Salem State has been invited to join the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference while Savannah State's application has been put on hold indefinitely. Each meeting could be a statement on the arguement when the Rams and Tigers take the court or field.

Recent Struggles . . . Senior center Shalonda Carter has struggled lately, reaching double-digit scoring just once in her last four games. Ironically, the effort came in the one game that she didn't start with 14 points at Radford. For the month of January, the effort was the only time that Carter reached double-digit scoring in 2007.

A Look Back . . . The Lady Rams posted a 10-18 overall record last season and posted a 5-11 conference record in their final year of membership in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). WSSU lost in the opening round of the CIAA Women's Championship tournament in Charlotte, NC to the Bowie State University Lady Bulldogs by the score of 52-51 as they closed out 25 years of CIAA basketball play before departing Division II for the ranks of Division I.

Last Action . . . The Lady Rams' struggles continued with the team taking a 62-49 loss to the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore Lady Hawks, Saturday afternoon. The loss was the team's sixth in a row and its third consecutive home loss. It was senior guard Kadina Baldwin who led the team's attack with 12 points in the contest. Sophomore forward Candace Saunders led the team's rebounding effort with nine boards in the game. Savannah State took their fifth loss in a row when they took on the Longwood Lancers, 55-40 in Farmville, Virginia. Sophomore forward Antoinette Williams led the charge for the Lady Tigers with 10 points in the game while junior forward Shaunte Carter added eight points and seven rebounds in the game.

Saturday's Opposition . . . The Lady Rams and Lady Tigers find themselves in very similar situations with both teams struggling with losses recently. Savannah State has lost their last five games while WSSU has dropped their last six contests. Leading the way for the Lady Tigers will be the inside-outside tandem of sophomore forward Antoinette Williams and junior guard Ivy Smith leading the charge. Smith is the team's leading scorer this season while Williams has been the team's top rebounder and their leading scorer in the paint. Williams led the Lady Tigers in their last outing with 10 points in a loss at Longwood.

The Series vs. Savannah State . . . Saturday's game will be the first meeting between the Lady Rams and Lady Tigers. Both teams are relatively new to NCAA Division I basketball and remain two top independent teams in the nation. The Lady Rams are in the second year of a five-year transition from NCAA Division II to Division I and will join the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in 2007-08. This season the Lady Rams compete at the Division I level as an Independent.

WSSU Radio Coverage . . . None for Saturday's game. The WSSU Department of Athletics will broadcast all the home women's basketball games on WSNC 90.5 FM with Maurice "Big Mo" Stanfield calling all the play-by-play action and LA Batchelor providing color commentary. The games are also available on the Internet at www.WSSU.edu by clicking on the link "Listen To WSNC 90.5 Online". The next WSSU broadcast will be on Saturday January 13, 2007 at 2:00 pm when WSSU takes on the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore.

Savannah State Radio Coverage . . . Savannah State will not have radio coverage in Saturday's game.

Websites . . . The official site of WSSU Athletics is www.WSSURAMS.com while the official site of the Lady Tigers is www.savstate.edu/athletics.

A Quick Look at Savannah State University . . . Savannah State is an institution of over 100 years and is located on a 165-acre campus bordering the city of Savannah, Georgia. The university was founded in 1890 and is the oldest public historically black college in the state of Georgia. Originally named Georgia State Industrial College for Colored Youth, the institution was originally located in Athens, Georgia and moved to Savannah in 1891. The school was granted university status in 1996, when Georgia State College was renamed Savannah State University.

On the Line . . . Both teams will look to make a statement as NCAA independent teams this season. Since both teams are competing as NCAA independents, the two teams will likely treat every game like a championship game. Both teams are also looking to snap losing skids with WSSU taking losses in their last six outings while the Lady Tigers have taken losses in their last five games.

Winter Blues . . . Both teams have been struggling in the month of January as both teams would have to look back to December to find their last win. Winston-Salem State has gone 0-4 in the month of January while Savannah State is 0-4 in the month of January as well. The Lady Rams' last win came at Bethune-Cookman on December 21st while Savannah State's last win came on December 29th at Mercer.

First Neutral Site Contest . . . The Lady Rams' action versus the Wildcats of New Hampshire (at the Lady Luck Classic in Blacksburg, VA) marked the Lady Rams' first contest at a neutral site during the 2006-07 season. WSSU dropped the contest by the score of 63-55 to fall to 0-1 on the season at neutral venues.

First Thursday Win Of `06-'07 . . . The Lady Rams' most recent win, a 59-50 win over the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman College marked the first time in the 2006-07 season that WSSU won a game held on a Thursday. The win improved WSSU's overall record on Thursday to 1-3. They look to inch closer to evening that record by moving to 2-3 on Thursday's with a win over Georgia Tech on January 4, 2007.

What's On Tap . . . The Lady Rams have their most difficult schedule in the 25-year history of the women's basketball program. WSSU opened the season with four road games during the season's first week of play. Winston-Salem State University lost at #2 North Carolina (83-32) on November 12 before traveling to Towson, MD to face Towson on November 14 where they lost 76-51. WSSU traveled to Auburn, AL to face Auburn University on November 17 where they dropped an 85-47 decision, and then traveled to face Alabama State on November 19 (L, 76-63). The Lady Rams' lost their first home contest (November 25) when they fell to Johnson C. Smith University at the C.E. Gaines Center in Winston-Salem, NC by the score of 73-63 and then earned their first win of the season, and first road win when they defeated Norfolk State in overtime 75-64. The Lady Rams fell to Delaware State University by the score of 67-51 and bounced back as they hammered NJIT 72-41. WSSU followed that win up with a close 66-52 loss to Appalachian State University and then fell again last at the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore in overtime by the score of 54-48 on December 9, 2006. The Lady Rams then lost their third consecutive game as they fell in defeat at Elon University on December 14 by the score of 50-42 before bouncing back this past Saturday with a losing-streak-snapping 56-47 win over Norfolk State University. WSSU's then fell in defeat on December 19 as the Lady Rams played well against a very good Towson Tiger team before losing 57-50 to drop to 3-10 on the season. WSSU then dropped a pair of games at the "Lady Luck Women's Basketball Classic" hosted by Virginia Tech this past weekend as they fell 43-33 to the Hokies and fell 63-55 to New Hampshire in the consolation match. The Lady Rams have struggled in 2007 taking three straight losses to open the year, falling to Georgia Tech, Livingston, and Radford. Most recently, the Lady Rams took a 62-49 loss to the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore Lady Hawks last Saturday at the C.E. Gaines Center.

Making History . . . History was made Monday, November 27th in Norfolk, Virginia as the Lady Rams recorded their first Division I win in the program's history. Coach Dee Stokes netted her first win as WSSU's head coach and the Lady Rams improved to 1-5 at the Division I level with a win over a Division I opponent on the road at Norfolk State University.

New Head Coach . . . WSSU is led by Dee Stokes who is entering into her first year as head coach of the Lady Rams. Stokes is no stranger to the Division I coaching ranks as she is entering into her fifth season overall and has posted an all-time mark of 54-65. She comes to WSSU by way of Winthrop University where she spent two seasons as an assistant coach following a four-year spell as the head coach at East Carolina University. Stokes has posted a 4-15 record at WSSU as head coach and earned her first win as head coach at WSSU on November 27 versus Norfolk State. She has posted an overall head coaching record of 54-65.

Hitting the Century Mark . . . WSSU senior forward Shalonda Carter has played in over 100 career games at WSSU. She hit the 100-game mark on Saturday, January 7, 2007 at the C.E. Gaines Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina when she took the court versus Livingstone College. Unfortunately, her 100th game was cut short as she received her fifth foul with just less than 12 minutes left to play.

Next Up . . . The Lady Rams will head north to take on the Delaware State Hornets at the Memorial Center in Dover, Delaware. The Lady Rams took a loss to DSU at the C.E. Gaines Center in Winston-Salem in December and will look for a bit of payback when they head to Dover.

Nine Conferences Strong . . . The Lady Rams will face nine different conferences during the 2006-07 season. WSSU will face the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) three times, the Colonial Athletic Association (CIAA) three times, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) once, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA - NCAA Division II) twice, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) nine times, the Southern Conference (SoCON) twice, the Big East once, the Big South once and the Patriot League once. WSSU will also battle five teams that are classified as NCAA Independents.

Right Where She Left Off . . . Senior forward Shalonda Carter is again picking up where she left off last season. Carter has averaged nearly a double-double for her entire career, a span of 98 career games (of which she has started 94 of them). Carter is averaging 13.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game this season with a career average of 12.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. It took Carter only 77 games to break the 1,000-point plateau at WSSU, something she did as a junior.

Young Gun . . . Freshman guard Ja'Pel Sumpter may be the only freshman on the 2006-07 team, but she isn't playing like it as she is the team's fourth leading scorer at 4.5 points per game and has earned four starts. As a true freshman, Sumpter has played fewer than 10 minutes only five times this season and has seen time in 19 of the team's 20 games this season.

Transition Year Two . . . The Lady Rams are currently in the second year of a five-year transition from the Division II level to the highest level of competition in Division I. The Lady Rams are an independent team that will join the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in 2007-08. Winston-Salem State University will become a full-fledged Division I member that is eligible for championships during the 2010-11 season.

12th MEAC Member . . . On July 20, 2006, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) announced that it will expand its membership to 12 members next year, as the league voted to admit Winston-Salem State University into the league beginning in 2007-08. "We are elated to welcome Winston-Salem into the MEAC family", said Commissioner Dennis Thomas. "Obviously we think that WSSU is an outstanding academic institution with an excellent athletics program." Winston-Salem State University is currently in the second year of its reclassification from Division II to NCAA Division I status. WSSU will begin a full MEAC schedule in all sports beginning in 2007-08. However they will not be eligible for MEAC Championship play until the 2010-11 football season. The addition of WSSU marks the first expansion for the MEAC since 1997, when Norfolk State University became the 11th member of the conference.

Road Weary . . . The Lady Rams are a woeful 2-9 on the road this season taking losses in their last three road games. The team's last win on the road came at Bethune-Cookman when the Lady Rams walked into Moore Gymnasium to take a 59-50 win over the Lady Wildcats.

Home Cooked . . . The Lady Rams have also struggled at home with a 2-7 record at the C.E. Gaines Center this season, including three straight home losses, including last Saturday's loss to the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore Lady Hawks, 49-62.

Glass Matters . . . Whoever wins the rebounding battle wins the basketball war. The Lady Rams, who are currently 4-15 on the season, have lost the rebounding battle in 10 of their 13 losses this season. Last season when the Lady Rams were out-rebounded, they posted a record of 2-15 overall. Rebounding may very well be the key to the success, or failure, of this young women's basketball team. When WSSU out-rebounds their opponent they have posted a 3-2 record this season. When WSSU is out-rebounded they have posted a dismal 1-12 record this season.

A New Era; A Proud History . . . The Lady Rams are entering into a new era at WSSU as they are heading into the Division I ranks. However, the Rams have a history of basketball excellence as they have recorded 12 winning seasons en route to posting an overall mark of 331-337 over the span of 25 years of play.