Lady Rams Lose Second Straight Game; Fall To Blue Bears 72-60
February 11, 2003
Salisbury, NC -History has a habit of repeating itself, and Tuesday evening was no exception as the Winston-Salem State University Lady Rams once again found themselves trailing in a contest during the early going.
The host Lady Blue Bears would jump out to an early 6-0 lead and the Lady Rams would wait more than three minutes to get on the scoreboard when Phinnie Matthews hit a four footer to give WSSU their first points of the ballgame with 16:43 remaining in the contest.
The Lady Blue Bears would push the mark to 17-6 with just under fourteen minutes to play when Angela Thomas completed a three-point play after a Phinnie Matthews foul.
It would only get worse for the Lady Rams as they would fall behind by 14 points only one possession later, as the sluggish start would continue. Turnovers, fouls and blown defensive assignments coupled with the Lady Rams characteristically poor shooting would all contribute to the deficit, as the host team kept rolling right along.
The solution to the Lady Rams' problems would prove to be seated right next to Head Coach John Williams as he would complete wholesale substitutions to get the Lady Rams back into the contest.
With all of the game's starters on the bench, key Ram reserves Nikki Eason, Monique Kirkland, Kamesha Harris, Tiffany Tonkins and Janine Martin would get be looked upon to get WSSU back into the contest. Kirkland contributed with a jumper and two free-throws, and Eason dropped in a lay-up and the Lady Rams were back in business, only trailing by five.
The five point lead would hold up for the final five minutes of the first period of play, and for the fourth time in the last five games, the Lady Rams would trail going into the locker room. The first half would prove to be one that WSSU and their faithful would want to forget. The only positive in the half would be the fact that the Lady Rams would only trail by five at the break. WSSU would shoot 31% from the floor (9 of 29), missing all three three-point attempts they took, and would commit nine turnovers.
Leading the way for the Lady Rams was Phinnie Matthews and Monique Kirkland with six points each, while Livingstone's Sherree Gillespie proved to be the proverbial thorn in the Rams' side as she not only tallied eight points, but grabbed ten rebounds (four on the offensive glass) in the half.
The second half started with the Lady Rams pulling to within three, and then things fell apart once again. WSSU would eventually find themselves down by twelve points with fifteen minutes remaining.
However, the comeback kids once again cut the deficit to as few as four points before allowing the Lady Blue Bears to push the margin back to seven. With eight minutes remaining, Nikki Eason came up just short on a pair of free throws, converting only the front end, and the Lady Rams trailed by only six points, as the game looked to be able to go either way.
The final eight minutes of play would see the Lady Blue Bears quietly sneak away from the Lady Rams pulling ahead gradually until their lead was one again as high as fourteen points. Livingstone accomplished that feat by controlling the glass, and dramatically out-rebounding the Lady Rams. Sherree Gillespie continued to be dominant on the boards, continuing to overpower WSSU with her inside position. She would finish the contest with her ninth double-double of the season, recording 17 points and a game-high 19 rebounds. However, it was not only Gillespie who would hurt the Lady Rams on the glass as Robin Wright and Chloe McInnis would both tally double figures in rebounding as well (10 and 12 rebounds respectively). WSSU would finish the game dramatically losing the rebounding battle by 18 (57 to 39).
The final horn would sound with the host team capturing the wire to wire, 72 to 60, 12-point victory, despite Lori Shelby's game high 21 points. The loss, their second in as many games, drops the Lady Rams to 14-10 overall and 9-5 in the CIAA, while Livingstone improves to 7-15 overall and 4-9 in the CIAA.
The Lady Rams next action will come against first-place Fayetteville State who will bring their unblemished CIAA Western Division record into the Gaines Center on Saturday at 5:30 pm.
Official Box Score:
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- 2nd PERIOD -- 00:02 REMAINING
Winston-Salem State Univ. vs Livingstone College
02/11/03 5:30 p.m. at Salisbury, NC (New Trent Gymnasium)
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VISITORS: Winston-Salem State Univ.
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
35 SHEARS, Rhonda...... f 2-8 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 1 4 0 2 0 1 21
44 HORTON, Lashonda.... f 1-5 0-0 0-0 3 3 6 2 2 0 0 1 2 21
03 SHELBY, Lori........ g 9-20 1-1 2-2 2 2 4 2 21 1 6 0 1 37
24 MATTHEWS, Phinnie... g 1-7 0-3 6-8 1 0 1 3 8 1 4 0 2 22
32 CORPENING, Aletha... g 1-7 1-3 0-0 1 0 1 3 3 0 1 0 2 22
12 EASON, Nikki........ 1-6 0-1 1-2 1 2 3 1 3 0 2 0 1 18
22 MARTIN, Janine...... 0-5 0-0 2-2 2 2 4 4 2 0 0 0 1 13
33 KIRKLAND, Monique... 5-11 0-2 2-3 0 1 1 5 12 0 2 0 2 18
42 TONKINS, Tiffany.... 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 2 2 1 0 1 1 19
55 HARRIS, Kamesha..... 1-1 0-0 1-2 0 3 3 1 3 0 1 1 0 9
TEAM................ 5 2 7
Totals.............. 22-72 2-10 14-19 19 20 39 24 60 3 18 3 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-29 31.0% 2nd Half: 13-43 30.2% Game: 30.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-3 0.0% 2nd Half: 2-7 28.6% Game: 20.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-10 70.0% 2nd Half: 7-9 77.8% Game: 73.7% 1
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HOME TEAM: Livingstone College
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
13 Richards, Kautelza.. f 4-8 2-4 1-2 3 0 3 2 11 2 8 0 1 29
31 Gillespie, Sherree.. f 5-11 0-0 7-13 10 9 19 0 17 1 4 0 4 36
34 McInnis, Chloe...... c 2-9 0-0 4-6 4 8 12 4 8 0 1 3 2 31
05 Garrison, Alycia.... g 1-7 0-2 4-4 1 4 5 3 6 3 7 0 0 34
30 Thomas, Angela...... g 7-11 1-3 4-5 0 1 1 5 19 2 3 0 1 31
12 Jackson, Keneshia... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 6
33 Wright, Robyn....... 2-7 0-0 7-8 4 6 10 1 11 0 2 0 1 22
42 Robinson, Claressa.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 5
44 Brown, Deshunda..... 0-4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
TEAM................ 4 4
Totals.............. 21-58 3-9 27-38 23 34 57 17 72 10 26 3 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-29 41.4% 2nd Half: 9-29 31.0% Game: 36.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 1-4 25.0% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-5 80.0% 2nd Half: 23-33 69.7% Game: 71.1% 5,1
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Officials: C. Jones;M.Thorn;M. Riddle
Technical fouls: Winston-Salem State Univ.-, MATTHEWS, Phinnie. Livingstone
College-None.
Attendance: 405
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Winston-Salem State Univ...... 25 35 - 60
Livingstone College........... 30 42 - 72
Points in the paint-WSSU 26,LSTONEW 28. Points off turnovers-WSSU 22,LSTONEW 14.
2nd chance points-WSSU 7,LSTONEW 23. Fast break points-WSSU 4,LSTONEW 2.
Bench points-WSSU 22,LSTONEW 11. Score tied-0 times. Lead changes-1 time.
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