Jan. 14, 2006

Final Stats

SALISBURY, NC - Free throws win games, and unfortunately, for the Lady Rams of Winston-Salem State University, they were on the wrong end of a converted attempt from the charity stripe on Saturday evening as Lina Brown's late-game free throw propelled the Lady Blue Bears of Livingstone College over the Lady Rams of Winston-Salem State University by the score of 59-58 in CIAA women's basketball action.

The first half of play saw the two teams turn in identical shooting performances as both the Lady Rams and Lady Blue Bears connected on 12 of their 28 first-half field goal attempts en route to 42.9% shooting percentages.

However, it would be Livingstone's lone three-point field goal and four more successful free-throw attempts that earned them a five-point cushion at the halftime intermission as they led the visiting Lady Rams 31-26 after 20 minutes of play at William Trent Gymnasium from the campus of Livingstone College.

Though eight Lady Rams would tally points during the contest's first half, the Lady Rams had no answer for Lina Brown who recorded a half-high 12 points on five-of-seven shooting from the field and a two-of-four performance from the charity stripe as she was the only player to break into double-digits in the first half.

WSSU wasted no time in erasing the Lady Blue Bear lead as Janet Robinson's fast-break lay-up with 13:10 remaining in the contest earned the Lady Rams their first lead of the second half.

The Robinson lay-up sparked a final 13 minutes of action that personified the parity of talent that is associated with CIAA basketball as the two teams would trade leads on seven consecutive trips down the court as neither team led by more than six points for the remainder of the contest.

As has been the case in five of the last ten meetings between the two teams, this contest would continue to be in doubt until the final minute of play.

Following a Livingstone College timeout, WSSU's Shalonda Carter was forced to commit her fifth and disqualifying foul with 4.3 seconds remaining in the contest thereby putting Lina Brown at the free-throw line with the opportunity to put her team ahead.

Brown promptly hit the second of a pair of free throws and a quick outlet pass and timeout gave WSSU only 0.9 seconds to get a shot off from mid-court.  That shot attempt feel just short in WSSU's bid for a comeback as Livingstone held on for the win.

Leading the way for the Lady Rams was Candace Saunders who recorded a team-high 13 points in the loss.  She was joined by Keoshia Worthy and Shalonda Carter who each scored in double-digits with 10 points each.  Lina Brown led Livingstone with 19 points and seven rebounds.

With the loss, the Lady Rams fall to 6-10 overall (1-4 CIAA) and 1-1 in the CIAA Western Division while Livingstone College improves to 6-7 overall (2-1 CIAA, 1-0 CIAA Western Division).

The Lady Rams return to action on Thursday, January 19, 2006 at 5:30 PM as they square-off against the two-time defending CIAA Champion Lady Bears of Shaw University in Raleigh, NC in a CIAA inter-division women's basketball contest.

For additional information on WSSU women's basketball, contact the WSSU Office of Sports Information at (336) 750-2143 or log on to the Official Website of WSSU Athletics at www.WSSURAMS.com

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