Jan. 29, 2007

For Immediate Release

January 29, 2007

 

Lady Rams Hoping to Sink Midshipmen at Navy

WSSU Looking to Get Lift after OT Battle at Wake

 

COMPLETE NOTES

 

Quick Hits . . . The Lady Rams head to Annapolis, Maryland to face The Naval Academy Midshipmen, Tuesday night. The Lady Rams will play their third straight road game and the team's fifth road game since January. The Lady Rams will look to score their first win against a Patriot League team.

 

Setting the Scene . . . Though the Lady Rams are coming in hot off of a big moral victory pushing Wake Forest to overtime last Friday, the team still took its ninth loss in their last 10 games and head to Annapolis hungry for a win. The Midshipmen head into Tuesday night's game with some recent struggles of their own having lost their last two games, but have won three of their last six contests.

 

Almost Got Them . . . The Lady Rams almost pulled out one of the biggest wins in team history last Friday when they took the Wake Forest Demon Deacons to overtime at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The win would have been a major feather in the team's cap with this season being the team's first season of competition at the NCAA Division I level and would have given the team some major bragging rights in the city of Winston-Salem.

 

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.

 

Road Warriors . . . The Lady Rams have struggled on the road of late with just one road win in the team's last six games. However, the road schedule has done no favors for the team as their opponents during that stretch have included Auburn, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, and Delaware State. The team's last win came on the road, however, as the team took a 66-58 win at Savannah State going into Tiger Arena to score the victory.

 

Green Light . . . Sophomore forward Lavontay Johnson has become the Lady Rams' top three-point threat recently hitting six three-pointers in her last three games. After setting a new career-high with three three-pointers at Savannah State, Johnson tied the high with three more three-pointers at Wake Forest last Friday night.

 

Never Scared . . . The Lady Rams have proven that they will not be intimidated by the Atlantic Coast Conference this season as the team has had some great performances in some of the toughest environments to play, falling to Virginia Tech by just 10 points, 33-43, and taking Wake Forest to overtime last Friday. Of the three ACC teams that the Lady Rams have faced this season, only #2 North Carolina has beaten the Lady Rams by more than 16 points.

 

Last Action . . . Friday's game was a heartbreaker for the Lady Rams with the team dropping an 82-66 overtime game at Wake Forest. After battling their Atlantic Coast Conference foes to a 66-66 tie at the end of regulation. It was sophomore guard Keoshia Worthy's lay-up with just 00:04 on the clock that tied the game and sent it into overtime. Sophomore forward Lavontay Johnson led the way with 16 points in the game, while senior center Shalonda Carter added a double-double 11 points and 11 rebounds in the game. Navy heads into Tuesday's game after a tough 55-44 loss to Colgate, Saturday night. Senior forward Carly Meyer led the way for the Midshipmen with 14 points and nine rebounds in the contest. She also added a block and three steals in the game. Junior center Lindi Conner added 10 points in the game.

 

The Series vs. Navy . . . Like many of the Lady Rams' other opponents, this will be the first meeting in the team's first season competing in NCAA Division I. Winston-Salem State is in the second year of transition to NCAA Division I and will join the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference next season.

 

WSSU Radio Coverage . . . There will be no radio for the Lady Rams, Tuesday night. The WSSU Department of Athletics will broadcast all the home women's basketball games and Friday's game 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.

 

Navy Radio Coverage . . . Tuesday's game will be broadcast on The Naval Academy's WNAV 1430 AM and will also be available via the internet on www.WNAV.com. The internet broadcast is free to all listeners. 

 

Websites . . . The official site of WSSU Athletics is www.WSSURAMS.com while the official site of the Midshipmen is www.Navysports.com. Both websites are members of the CSTV.com family. 

 

A Quick Look at The Naval Academy . . .  The Naval Academy was founded in 1845 and has an enrollment of 4,000 students. Founded as an answer to the dormancy of the United States seapower at the time, The Naval Academy has gone on to produce a host of top notch naval officers yearly. 

 

On the Line . . . The Lady Rams are heading into the final stretch of the 2006-07 season with just five games left to play. Post-season is out of the question for the team this season so every game is a championship game for the Lady Rams, who are in the second year of the transition period in making the move to NCAA Division I. The team will look to score their fourth win over an NCAA Division I opponent this season. The will also be looking to improve upon a dismal 3-11 record in road games this season. The Naval Academy will be looking to snap a brief two-game losing streak, including a pair of Patriot Conference losses of late. Both teams will look to build some momentum heading into the final stretch of the season.

 

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.  Thursdays have not been kind to the Lady Rams as the team is 1-4 on the fifth day of the week.

 

First Win of 2007 . . . The Lady Rams took a bit longer than they would have liked to get their first win of 2007 when they took a 66-58 win over Savannah State.

 

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 battled the Wake Forest Demon Deacons to an 82-66 overtime loss, Friday evening a the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

 

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 55-71.  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 5-18 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 55-70.

 

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 return to Maryland to take on the Morgan State Lady Bears, Saturday afternoon. While Navy will remain at home to face Bucknell on February 3rd in the final game of a three-game home stand.

 

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 a double-double for her entire career, a span of 98 career games (of which she has started 94 of them).  Carter is averaging 13.0 points and 9.8  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.

 

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 3-11 on the road this season taking losses in their last three road games. The team's last win on the road came at Tiger Arena when the team walked away with a 66-58 win over the Savannah State Lady Tigers earlier this month.

 

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 . . . The Lady Rams are 3-12 when their opponents get more rebounds. Opponents are keying in on leading rebounder Shalonda Carter who had been averaging double-digit rebounding this season. The senior's average has dipped to single digits as she is currently averaging 9.8 rebounds per game this season after averaging double-digit rebounds for most of the season. Carter has been the team's leading rebounder in 18 of the team's 24 contests. Carter has been on a bit of a drought not leading the team in rebounding in her last two outings. Carter picked up her play in a big way, Friday when she recorded a double-double 11 points and 11 rebounds at Wake Forest. The effort nearly keyed the win for the Lady Rams.

 

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.