Women's Basketball 2/12/2008 5:00:00 AM MEAC Media Relations

Lady Rams Overpowered at Coppin State, 85-44

The Winston-Salem State Lady Rams (2-18) ran out of gas, Monday when the team took an 85-44 loss to the Coppin State Lady Eagles (13-11).

The Lady Rams played a solid first half keeping the defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season champions to within seven points, but were outscored 52-18 in the second half to end the night with the loss.

The game turned out to be a story of halves as the young Lady Rams used a strong defensive effort, combined with some opportunistic offense to keep the game in reach in the first half, falling behind the Lady Eagles, 26-33 at the half.

As a team, the Lady Rams shot 33.3% from the field in the first half and held Coppin State to just seven first half field goals. However, in the second half, the Lady Rams found themselves overwhelmed with Coppin State shooting 66.7% from the field in the second half, including going 12-of-13 from the free throw line. In contrast to their first half effort, the Lady Rams shot just 22.7% from the field in the second half going 5-of-22 from the floor.

The starting backcourt of WSSU freshmen guards Nikki Kee and Rene Rector turned a solid offensive effort in the game with Kee leading the Lady Rams with 12 points, going 8-of-11 from the free throw line. Rector added 10 points in the loss with a pair of three pointers. The dup of freshman forwards Jalesa Byrd and Vontisha Woods added five rebounds each to lead the Lady Rams.

Coppin State had four players reach double-digit scoring led by senior guard Rashida Suber’s 24-point effort. Center Whitney Cunningham added 19 points while senior guard Shalamar Oakley added 12 points. CSU forward Jennifer Martin added 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds in the game.

The Lady Rams fell behind early in the second half falling behind by as many as 16 points, 18-2 with 11:32 left in the first half of play. The 16-point margin would continue to plague the Lady Rams until a brief 6-0 run would give the team some life and pull the Lady Eagles within reach, 21-10 with 8:10 left in the half. It was a Woods jumper that capped the run.

Though Coppin State did manage to keep ahead of the Lady Rams, the young WSSU squad would not go away, ending the half on a high note with a Rector three-pointer with 29 seconds left in the half that kept the Lady Rams within reach, 26-33 at halftime. It was the WSSU defense that keyed the effort as the Lady Rams forced 11 CSU turnovers and held them to just 13 field goals in the half.

The second half was much different for the Lady Rams as the team struggled mightily for the entire half. Coppin State would open the half with six unanswered points and took command of the game, once again. It was a Kee lay-up at the 17:24 mark that snapped the Coppin State run and left the Lady Rams trailing, 41-28. The Lady Ram offense would go into a major slump, however as the Lady Rams went over four minutes without a field goal and only notching three free throws during the slump. Coppin State would capitalize and claim control of the game for good. A Woods lay-up would snap the run, however, and leave the Lady Rams trailing, 54-33 with 12:21 left in the game, but the worst was yet to come with the team going another scoreless four minutes. By the time Rector hit her second three-pointer of the game at the 8:07 mark, the game was out of reach, 64-36. The two teams went on to play out the string with the Lady Rams finishing the night with the 85-44 loss.

The squad will not have long to rest, however, as they will return to action on Wednesday evening to take on the Longwood Lancers in the “Think Pink” game.

The Lady Rams will don pink uniforms in support of the WBCA’s “Think Pink” initiative. Wednesday’s game is set for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off at the C.E. Gaines Center on the campus of Winston-Salem State University.