Lady Rams Heading North to Face Resurgent Morgan State Lady Bears - WINSTON-SALEM STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Feb. 2, 2007

For Immediate Release

February 2, 2007

Lady Rams Back on the Road to Face Morgan State

WSSU seeking to start February with win

Quick Hits . . . The Lady Rams head to Baltimore, Maryland to face a tough Morgan State Lady Bears squad that is in the middle of one of their best seasons in recent history. Winston-Salem State has been on an up-and-down rollercoaster of late and will be looking to break up their recent struggles with a solid finish to the 2006-07 season.

Setting the Scene . . . Both teams enter Saturday's game with a lot to prove as the Lady Rams are seeking respect as a new addition to the NCAA Division I ranks while Morgan State Lady Bears are having their strongest season in recent memory and is looking to keep their strong play rolling when they face WSSU in non-conference competition. The Lady Rams head into the game in the midst of a three-game losing streak having lost to Delaware State, Wake Forest, and the U.S. Naval Academy. Still, with just four games left in the 2006-07 season, the Lady Rams will look to score wins at every opportunity and finish the season with some momentum. Though the Morgan State Lady Bears have struggled in recent years, the team has become one of the stronger teams in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference this season with a 10-8 overall record and a 5-4 record in conference play. The Lady Bears are currently in fourth place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference standings. The Lady Bears head into Saturday's game having won six of their last eight games, but have lost two of their last two outings.

Almost Got Them . . . The Lady Rams almost pulled out one of the biggest wins in team history 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.

The Match-Up . . . As with much of the season, the Lady Rams will head into Saturday's game with a bit of a height advantage with Morgan State boasting six players that are at least six feet tall and also have a pair of 6'3" players. That is a big advantage against a Winston-Salem State team that has four players that are at least 5'4" and shorter. Fortunately, the Lady Rams' two post players, senior Shalonda Carter and sophomore forward Lavontay Johnson are the team's top scorers at 12.8 points per game and 9.8 points per game respectively. Morgan State heads into the game behind the strong play of freshman guard Corin Adams and senior guard Whitney Johnson. Adams leads the team with 12.9 points per game and 10.3 points per game respectively. The Lady Bears love the three-point line with foul players who have hit more than 10 three-pointers this season, while the Lady Rams look to the inside to get their work done first. The key battle will be at the guard position where senior Kadina Baldwin and senior Whitney Johnson.

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 seven 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.

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 . . . The Lady Rams took a tough 58-39 loss to the U.S. Naval Academy Midshipmen, Tuesday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis, Maryland. Sophomore guard Keoshia Worthy was the only WSSU player to reach double-digit scoring in the game, although senior guard Latoya Armstrong scored nine points as well. Morgan State heads into Saturday's game off of a tough loss to the Howard Lady Bison, Monday night. The team committed a season-high 35 turnovers in the contest. Freshman guard Corinne Adams led the way for the Lady Bears with 17 points in the contest. Senior center Latricia Jones added a double-double 11 points and 11 rebounds in the game.

Four to Go . . . The Lady Rams have four games left in the 2006-07 season with two road trips at Morgan State and at Longwood and home games against Bethune-Cookman and Savannah State, teams that the Lady Rams had already beaten this season.

WSSU Radio Coverage . . . There will be no radio for the Lady Rams, Saturday 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.

Morgan State Radio Coverage . . . Morgan State won't have any radio at Saturday's game.

Websites . . . The official site of WSSU Athletics is www.WSSURAMS.com while the official site of the Lady Bears us www.MorganStateBears.com.

A Quick Look at Morgan State University . . . Morgan State University was founded in 1867 as the Centenary Biblical Institute by the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church with the original mission of training young men in ministry. The school was renamed Morgan College in 1890 in honor of Reverend Lyttlejohn Morgan, the first chairman of its Board of Trustees. Morgan remained private until 1939 when the state Maryland purchased the school. Currently, the university has an average enrollment of roughly 6,000 students.

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. Morgan State heads into the game looking to build some much needed momentum heading into the final stretch of conference play in February to prepare for the 2007 MEAC Championship Tournament.

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. Recently, the Lady Rams have played some solid basketball, but have struggled to score wins posting a 1-7 record since the beginning of January. Last time out, the Lady Rams took a 58-39 loss at The Naval Academy on Tuesday night. The loss was the team's third in a row.

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 55-72. 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.

Next Up . . . Following Saturday's match-up with Morgan State, the Lady Rams will finally head home to take on the Bethune-Cookman Lady Wildcats on February 8th. The home game will end a stretch of five road games for the Lady Rams. Morgan State will return to conference play when the team hits the road to take on the Delaware State Hornets in Dover, Delaware.

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.

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.

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.