WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The Winston-Salem State Lady Rams (5-8, 1-2 CIAA) clicked on all cylinders when the team took a dominant 65-57 win over the Virginia State Lady Trojans (10-3, 2-1 CIAA) , Thursday evening. After taking three straight losses, the Lady Rams took their first Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) win of the season in style when the team combined a strong defensive effort with some solid offense to hand the Lady Trojans their first conference loss of the season.

As a team, the Lady Rams had one of their top defensive efforts of the season when they held the Lady Trojans to just 57 points in the game. Offensively, the Lady Rams also had a strong day, shooting 35.0% from the floor with just 16 turnovers. WSSU redshirt-senior guard Taylar Wells led the way with a game-high 18 points in the game. Senior forward Dionna Scott nearly pulled out a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.

The Lady Rams took control of the game early and never looked back with one of their best first half efforts of the season. The got things going with a 7-2 lead after a Scott lay-up at the 14:04 mark in the first half. From there, the Lady Rams held off the hard-charging Lady Trojans to keep a 20-15 lead at the 6:21 mark. The team really kicked things into gear in the final minutes of the first half when they pushed their lead to as many as 13 points, 32-19 with 2:00 left in the half. From there, the Lady Rams turned to their defense to shut things down as they allowed just one free throw to the Lady Trojans and took a 32-20 lead into the locker room at the half.

Though the Lady Trojans put up a great second half battle, the Lady Rams did not give in as the team battled their way to the win with a great second half effort. The Lady Rams opened the half with an 11-5 run over the first five minutes of the half and took a commanding 43-25 lead with 15:06 left. The Lady Rams went on to push their lead to as many as 20 points, 49-29 at the 12:31 left. The Lady Rams held their 20-point cushion midway through the half, but soon had to fend off a late Lady Trojan rally in the final minutes of the half. Virginia State chipped away at the WSSU lead for the remainder of the game. A Briana Wilder three-pointer at the 4:34 mark left the Lady Rams on top, 60-47. However, Virginia State played some solid defense of their own as the Lady Rams managed just one more field goal for the remainder of the game. However, the Lady Rams were able to hold off the Lady Trojans and took home the 65-57 victory.

With the win, the Lady Rams improve to 5-8 overall and 1-2 in the CIAA. The team will return to action, Saturday when they host the Chowan Lady Hawks in a 2:00 p.m. game. For more information on Lady Rams basketball, contact the WSSU Office of Athletic Media Relations at (336) 750-2143 or log on to www.WSSURams.com.