Lady Rams Take 70-51 Loss at Johnson C. Smith
Turnovers costly for Lady Rams in loss to former CIAA rivals
Trevin Q.Goodwin
12/18/07
 

CHARLOTTE, NC – The struggles continue to mount for the Winston-Salem State Lady Rams (0-8), who took a 70-51 loss to the Johnson C. Smith Lady Golden Bulls (7-2), Monday afternoon. An inspired effort by WSSU freshman center Vontisha Woods, who tied a career-high 17 points and pulled in 11 rebounds, was not enough for the struggling Lady Rams who suffered their eighth straight loss to open the 2007-08 season.

Turnovers plagued the Lady Rams all night with 19 turnovers, leading to 23 Johnson C. Smith points in the loss. For the game, the Lady Rams shot 38.3% from the field while allowing JCSU to shoot over 40% from the field in the game as well. Freshman Nikki Kee added 12 points while fellow freshman guard Rene Rector added 10 points in the loss.

The first half was a tough one for the Lady Rams who have struggled to find early offense in nearly every game this season. The Lady Rams went scoreless for the first five minutes of the game and allowed Johnson C. Smith to jump out to an early 10-0 lead before a Woods lay-up would snap the Lady Rams’ drought with 14:51 left in the half. The squad struggled to compete with the Golden Bulls’ pressure defense which forced missed shots and turnovers on the first seven possessions by the Lady Rams. Over the first ten minutes of the half, the Lady Rams managed just eight shot attempts.

Freshman guard Rene Rector would do her part to get things going for the Lady Rams with a three-pointer at the 9:05 mark that cut the WSSU deficit down to 12 points, 19-7. However, things would get worse for the Lady Rams in the final minutes of the game with Johnson C. Smith outscoring the squad, 26-14 in the final ten minutes of play. The Lady Rams would fall behind by as many as 30 points in the half, when the seventh JCSU three-pointer of the half left the Lady Rams trailing 45-15 with just over 18 seconds left in the half. A Nikki Kee three-pointer would cut the WSSU deficit down to 27 points at the half and left the Lady Rams trailing, 45-18.

The Lady Rams got a better start to the second half with the Lady Rams turning up the defensive efforts and holding JCSU to just one point in the first four minutes of the half. However, the WSSU offense didn’t quite match the team’s defensive efforts with the squad coming within no closer than 23 points of the Lady Golden Bulls. Down the stretch of the half, both teams turned up their offensive efforts with the Lady Rams keeping pace with the Lady Golden Bulls. With 10:11 left in the half, the Lady Rams found themselves trailing 58-35.

The Lady Rams would show some life down the stretch of the game mounting an 8-2 run and cutting the WSSU deficit down to as much as 15 points. Freshman forward Jalesa Byrd would cap the run with a lay-up at 3:55 that left the Lady Rams behind, 47-62. Fifteen points would be as close as the Lady Rams could come with the Lady Golden Bulls mounting an 8-3 run of their own to close out the game and take home the 70-51 win.