Dec. 17, 2007

Final Stats

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.

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. Things would get worse for the Lady Rams in the final minutes of the half with JCSU 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. It is important to mention, that the classy head coach Vanessa Taylor already removed the starters from the contest spreading the playing time amongst all players. 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.

JCSU was led by the red-hot shooting of Shemika Jones (Largo, Md.) who had a game high 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting connecting on all three shots from beyond the arc. Ashley Young-Jones (Asheville, N.C.) had a season high 10 points and six rebounds.

With the win, JCSU improves to 7-2 overall and remains undefeated in the confines of Brayboy Gymnasium and in the conference. The ladies will enjoy a much-needed break for the holidays but will return to action on January 2, when they take on the Pantherettes of Claflin University. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Orangeburg, S.C.