Winston-Salem State (1-15) played a great 39 minutes, but fell victim to a last minute surge by Norfolk State (3-13) that left the squad with a 62-61 loss to the short-handed Spartans.

The final 30 seconds of the game saw the Lady Rams holding a 58-50 lead, but also saw WSSU give up nine unanswered points to end the night with the loss.

Freshman guard Rene Rector led the way with 18 points in the loss, including hitting nine-of-10 free throws. She led three Lady Ram scorers in double digits in the loss with fellow freshman guard Corbin Bradford adding 11 points while forward Vontisha Woods scored 13 points and added nine rebounds.

The Lady Rams opened the game with a 5-0 run and would relinquish the lead just once in the first half with just under 10 minutes to play. Down the stretch of the half, the Lady Rams re-established dominance going ahead by as many as 15 points and taking a 32-23 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The squad continued to dominate in the second half going ahead by as many as 13 points. Norfolk State would chip away at the WSSU lead cutting the lead down to eight points heading into the final 30 seconds of the game.

The Spartans would go on to hit three 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds, including one with 22 seconds left that gave NSU a 58-56 lead, their first lead since the first half of play. A free-throw by freshman center Nora Campbell would put the Lady Rams ahead 61-59, but a Norfolk State lay-up combined with a Campbell foul would end the Lady Rams chance for a victory.

As a team, the Lady Rams shot 34.5% from the field, but committed 29 turnovers in the loss.

The Lady Rams now move to 1-15 on the season and will return home to face the Florida A&M Lady Rattlers in a Saturday game at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum Annex. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 pm.

? Copyright 2007 meacsports.com