WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The Winston-Salem State Rams (11-16, 6-10 CIAA) gave a great effort, but it was not enough as the team took a hard-fought 51-49 loss to the Livingstone Blue Bears (14-11, 9-7 CIAA), Saturday afternoon. The Rams played a great defensive game, holding the powerful Livingstone offense to just 51 points in the game, but the Rams could not quite get the points that they needed in the close loss.

The Rams took the loss in spite of a great defensive effort. The Rams held the Blue Bears to just 22 field goals and forcing 24 turnovers in the game. However, the Rams didn't fare much better offensively as they shot 33.3% (22-of-66) from the floor themselves. WSSU senior guard Awa Kalmstrom saved the best offensive performance of her career for Senior Day as she led the Rams with a career-high 13 points in the game while freshman guard Brionna Pate added a career-high 12 points with a career-high eight rebounds as well.

The game was a hard-fought battle for all 40 minutes of the game, beginning with a thrilling first half as the Rams played the Blue Bears to a 31-30 halftime lead. The Rams had to fend off an early run by the Blue Bears with Livingstone jumping out to a 12-8 lead after a three-pointer at the 4:02 mark. But the Rams soon struck back when a Kalmstrom lay-up and free throw capped a 7-2 WSSU run that gave the Rams their first lead of the game. 15-14 with 00:57 left in the first quarter. However, a pair of Livingstone lay-ups in the final minute left the Rams trailing, 18-15 at the end of the quarter.

The second quarter saw a much better effort by the Rams as the outscored the Blue Bears, 16-12 in the quarter. After going behind by as many as seven points, 22-15 with 7:15 left in the quarter, the Rams bounced back in a major way when as 12-4 WSSU run gave the Rams their first lead of the quarter, 27-26 with 27-26 with 3:16 left in the half and set the stage for a thrilling end to the half. A Livingstone jumper with 28 seconds left the Rams trailing, 30-29, but sophomore forward Briana Arnold hit a lay-up at the buzzer to give the Rams a 31-30 halftime lead.

After a thrilling first half of play, the Rams and the Blue Bears continued their battle into the second half that did not disappoint. After a strong opening to the half by the Blue Bears who built a four-point lead, the Rams tied the game once again on a jumper by Arnold at the 2:01 mark that tied the game 37-37. However, Livingstone answered with back-to-back layups in the final minute, but a Kalmstrom jumper at the 00:15 mark cut the WSSU deficit down to just two points, 41-39 heading into the fourth quarter.

The three quarters of solid play by the Rams and the Blue Bears set the stage for a thrilling fourth quarter. For the fourth straight time, the Blue Bears jumped ahead of the Rams as they pushed their lead to seven points, 48-41 following a 7-2 run to open the quarter. But the Rams clawed their way back into the game with four straight points, including a three-pointer from redshirt-sophomore center Jatzmin Johnson and a free throw from senior guard Jeri Craine pulled the Rams to within three points, 48-45 with 4:34 left to play. Though the Rams would continue to play, the team could not get any closer than three points before a Livingstone free throw with six seconds left put the Blue Bears ahead by four points, 51-47. A last second three by the Rams fell short and a Pate lay-up at the buzzer was all that the Rams could get in the close 51-49 loss.

With the loss, the Rams fall to 11-15 on the season and 6-10 in CIAA play. The loss caps the 2015-16 regular season for the Rams and the team will await seeding for next week's 2016 CIAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament. For more information on Rams women's basketball, contact the WSSU Office of Athletic Media Relations at (336) 750-2143 or log on to www.WSSURams.com.