March 2, 2005

Raleigh, NC - Cinderella is still dancing as the Lady Rams, the Western Division's fifth seed, have swept through a pair of games at the CIAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament and now move on to Friday's semifinal round where they will face a difficult Elizabeth City State University Lady Viking squad at 1:00 PM on Friday afternoon at the RBC Center.

The Lady Rams started off the tournament by defeating Virginia Union in the final game of day one of the tournament by the score of 66-55 behind Shalonda Carter's 25 points and 15 rebounds.

WSSU kept right on rolling the very next night as Carter once again paced the Lady Rams with 13 points and 13 rebounds as WSSU knocked off the Western Division top-seed Fayetteville State University Lady Broncos by the score of 70-60.

The pair of wins propels WSSU into the semifinal round, a place that Head Coach John Williams has never been during his three year tenure at WSSU, and a place that the Lady Rams have not been since losing to Virginia State University in the CIAA Women's Championship in 2002.

The Lady Rams and Lady Vikings are no stranger to one another as they met once during the regular season with WSSU earning a 70-61 road victory in Elizabeth City, NC on January 6th, 2005.

The Lady Rams have won 10 of the last 12 head-to-head meetings between the two teams, and have won two straight head-to-head meetings in the CIAA Tournament.

WSSU defeated Elizabeth City State in the second round of the 2001 CIAA Tournament by the score of 78-73 and followed that up with a second round win over the Lady Vikings the very next year by the score of 49-44 en route to WSSU's only CIAA title-game appearance.

The two teams have split the last two meetings (2004-05 and 2003-04), however prior to that split, the Lady Rams reeled off a streak of five straight wins.

The Lady Rams will come into the game as the lower seed as Elizabeth City State will enter the game as the second seed in the Eastern Division.

Additionally, the two teams boast the last two consecutive CIAA Women's Basketball Rookies of the Year as ECSU's Celeste Trahan earned the honor this season and WSSU sophomore forward Shalonda Carter garnered the honor last season.

Tip-off is slated for 1:00 PM from the RBC Center in Raleigh, NC with the winner advancing to Saturday's Championship game (LIVE on ESPNU at 9:00 PM from the RBC Center) to face the winner of the Shaw/North Carolina Central University matchup which will be played at 3:00 PM on Friday afternoon.

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

Winston-Salem State vs. Elizabeth City State (The Last 12 Meetings)...

Season	Victor	Score
04-05	WSSU	70-61
03-04	ECSU	72-58
02-03	WSSU	62-47(CIAA)
01-02	WSSU	49-44
01-02	WSSU	72-62
00-01	WSSU	78-73 (CIAA)
00-01	WSSU 	60-58
99-00	ECSU	82-77
99-00	WSSU	78-51
98-99	WSSU	64-51
97-98	WSSU	75-55
96-97	WSSU	66-57