Winston-Salem State (0-15) had their hearts broken in a 66-53 loss to the Hampton Lady Pirates (6-9), Monday evening. The game turned out to be a story of two halves as the Lady Rams’ stellar first half effort wilt away under the pressure of a second half explosion by the Lady Pirates.
The story of the game was not told in the statistics as the Lady Rams put up some impressive numbers in the contest. The team shot 38.3% from the field with just 16 turnovers in the contest. Three Lady Rams reached double-digit scoring in the contest as sophomore guard Rene Rector led the charge with 13 points in the contest. Fellow sophomore Vontisha Woods added 12 points and seven rebounds while MaLisa Bumpus added 11 points in the loss.
The Lady Rams got off to a great start with their best first half effort of the season as they shot a scorching 51.6% from the floor and held the Lady Pirates to shooting just 24.1% in the half. It was the WSSU defense that keyed the effort forcing 14 Hampton turnovers in the first half. The Lady Rams got things going early as a pair of back-to-back WSSU three-pointers put the squad in the driver’s seat, 6-4 in the early going of the contest.
From there, the Lady Rams would continue their charge as a jumper by sophomore guard MaLisa Bumpus capped an 18-8 run by the Lady Rams and gave the Lady Rams a 24-12 lead with just over eight minutes left to play in the half. Hampton would charge back into the game, however, whittling the WSSU lead down to 10 points 20-10, but the Lady Rams would not back down as a Bumpus three-pointer at the 00:18 mark would cap the WSSU half and gave the Lady Rams a 37-20 lead into the locker room at the half.
As expected, the Hampton Lady Pirates came out with an aggressive second half effort, but the Lady Rams stood up to the challenge, pushing their lead to 19 points on a Woods lay-up at the 19:10 mark. It was a 14-2 Hampton run that chipped the WSSU lead down to five points, 39-34 with just over 13 minutes left to play. WSSU sophomore guard Rene Rector would snap the skid, hitting a lay-up that kept the Lady Rams in control of the contest, 41-34. The basket would spark the Lady Rams as the team scored on back-to-back possessions to remain on top, 43-34 just before the midpoint of the half.
Things would get tough for the Lady Rams midway through the half as the team’s lead disappeared as a Hampton three-pointer with just under eight minutes left to play keft the Lady Rams trailing, 44-43. Hampton would continue its push taking a 47-44 lead, but the Lady Rams would continue to battle down the stretch of the contest. After falling behind, 47-53 with just under five minutes left to play, the Lady Rams ran out of gas as the Lady Rams fell behind 49-59 with just over a minute left to play. The two teams would play out the final minute and the team would end the evening with the heartbreaking 66-53 loss.
With the loss, the Lady Rams fall to 0-15 on the season, but will return to the comforts of home to take on the local rival North Carolina A&T Lady Aggies on Saturday afternoon at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.