Women's Basketball 2/19/2008 5:00:00 AM MEAC Media Relations

Short-Handed Lady Rams Take 65-41 Loss at Hampton

The Winston-Salem State Lady Rams (2-21) battled hard, but ran out of gas in a 65-41 loss to the Hampton Lady Pirates (14-10). The WSSU squad played hard for the entire contest, but fell short in the final minutes against the much deeper, more experienced Hampton Lady Pirates.

Lady Ram freshman center Nora Campbell led the charge for the squad with her first career double-double. The Long Island, NY native totaled 16 points and 10 rebounds in the game as well as setting a new career-high with five blocks in the game. Fellow freshman Jalesa Byrd added 10 points with six rebounds and a blocked shot in the game. As a team, the Lady Rams shot 28.0% from the field with 20 turnovers in the loss. There were able to slow the Lady Pirates to shooting just 36.6% from the field on their home court and shooting 29.4% from the three-point line. The team’s effort was especially impressive with five WSSU players accounting for 190 of the team’s 200 minutes in the game.

The Lady Rams showed their fight early in the game erasing a 6-0 Hampton start with six unanswered points and tying the game on a Byrd jumper with 15:36 left in the first half. The squad would keep the game close, taking a one-point lead, 13-12 on a Byrd free throw with 10:55 left in the half. The team did wear down towards the end of the half as Hampton held the Lady Rams to just one field goal in the final 10 minutes of play and taking a 30-18 deficit into the locker room at halftime.

In the early minutes of the half, the Lady Rams outscored Hampton, 10-1 Byrd would lead the charge early for the Lady Rams scoring the first seven WSSU points of the half. A Campbell three-pointer, the first of two for the freshman, would pull the Lady Rams to within five points of the Lady Pirates, 31-26 with 19:02 left to play. Another Byrd lay-up would pull the team to within three points, 31-28 with 18:15 left to play. Hampton would regain control of the contest, with a 10-0 run that ended the WSSU run and put the Lady Pirates on top for good.

The final stretch of the game was a hard one for the Lady Rams as the team hit just three field goals in the final 14 minutes of play. The final seven minutes were especially tough for the squad as free throws were all that the team could muster. The drought left the Lady Rams ending the night with a 65-42 loss.