Late Surge Costs Lady Rams in 70-58 Loss to USC-Aiken
Young Lady Rams step up for Lady Rams, Worthy injured
Trevin Q. Goodwin
12/3/07

AIKEN, SC – The Winston-Salem State Lady Rams (0-6) played their best game of the young season, but came gave up a late run to the USC-Aiken Pacers in a 70-58 loss, Monday evening. The Lady Rams saw their largest lead of the season as well as its first halftime lead of the season disappear late in the second half and fell to the host Pacers.

The Lady Rams opened the game with a scoring barrage with freshmen forwards Jalesa Byrd and Quintoya Mobley connecting from downtown on the team’s first two possessions and leading the team to an early 6-0 lead. WSSU freshman center Vontisha Woods would keep things going for the Lady Rams, scoring a pair of baskets on the inside to put the team ahead, 10-0 early in the game. The Lady Rams would go up by as many as 12 points before the Pacers would get their first score of the game, a pair of free throws at the 15:53 mark.

Freshman center Vontisha Woods and freshman guard Corbin Bradford would lead the way for the Lady Rams with 15 points each in the loss. Freshman guard Rene Rector would add 12 points. Woods also led the Lady Rams with eight rebounds in the loss.  

Senior guard Keoshia Worthy would hit a running jumper in the lane to put the Lady Rams ahead 16-3, the team’s largest lead of the season. The start was the team’s best of the season with the Lady Rams shooting 87% (7-of-8) in the first six minutes of the game.

With Worthy taking a breather, the Lady Rams would see their lead cut down to seven points over the next four minutes with USC-Aiken going on a 10-4 run that left the Lady Rams leading 20-13 with 11:12 left in the half. The Lady Rams would go nearly seven minutes without a score, allowing the Pacers to cut the WSSU lead down to just four points, 20-16 with 7:24 left in the half. A Byrd free throw would snap the drought by the Lady Rams, but the hard-charging Pacers would continue their run, cutting the WSSU lead down to just one point when freshman guard Corbin Bradford hit a lay-up to keep the Lady Rams ahead, 23-20, but a Pacer three-pointer would erase the WSSU lead and cap a 20-7 run by the Pacers.

The next few minutes were tense with the Lady Rams clinging to a one-point lead for much of the half. But some tough defense by the Lady Rams would key a late surge by the Lady Rams that saw the team build a five-point advantage heading into the locker room at halftime. For the half, freshman center Vontisha Woods lead the way for the Lady Rams with 10 points in the game. The half did end on a down note with a Worthy injury at the buzzer. The senior did not return for the start of the second half.

Without the senior in the game, the Lady Ram freshmen had to grow up in a hurry. Though the squad battled for much of the half, the Lady Rams were not able to hold on as a late surge by the Pacers put the game out of reach. The second half got off to a different start with the Pacers scoring first, but a three-point barrage by freshman guard Corbin Bradford would keep the Lady Rams ahead early., Her second three-pointer would keep the Lady Rams in control of the game, 41-35 with just over 17 minutes left in the game. Though the WSSU offense would struggle at times without Worthy, the team’s defensive effort kept things intact for the Lady Rams over the next few minutes as the team held on to a five-point lead, 45-40 with 13:15 left in the game. The Pacers would pull to within one point, 47-46, but a clutch jumper by Bradford would keep the Lady Rams ahead, 49-46 with just over 12 minutes left to play.

It was with just over seven minutes left in the game that the Pacers would mount a critical late run that erased the WSSU lead and put the game out of reach for the young Lady Rams. It was then that the Pacers would score 11 unanswered point to take the lead en route to a 25-3 run that ended the night with the Lady Rams falling 70-58. The final four minutes saw the WSSU squad struggle with the team scoring just three points in the final minutes and allowing the Pacers to extend their lead to go up by as many as 15 points.

Other Notes:

- Freshman forward Quintoya Mobley made her second start of the season in place of fellow freshman guard Corbin Bradford, who had started all five of the team’s previous games this season.

- Freshman guard Corbin Bradford scored a career-high 15 points in the loss. Bradford hit

- Senior guard Keoshia Worthy missed the entire second half with a knee injury.