CHARLOTTE, NC – The fifth-seeded Winston-Salem State Rams (12-15) clamped down on defense for all forty minutes and had some clutch offense to take a 50-44 upset win over the fourth-seeded Virginia State Lady Trojans (12-15) in the opening round of the 2016 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Women's Basketball Championship Tournament, Tuesday afternoon.

After a Virginia State jumper left the Rams trailing, 44-43 with 00:49 left to play, WSSU redshirt-sophomore center Jatzmin Johnson hit a huge three-pointer that sparked a seven-point WSSU run that left the Rams with the 50-44 victory.

Featuring a match-up between the top two defensive teams in the CIAA, the game fit the bill as the Rams and the Lady Trojans combined to score just 94 points in the game. Neither team had a particularly impressive offensive showing in the game as the Rams finished the game with 50 points and shot 33.3% (16-of-48) from the field while holding Virginia State to shooting just 24.5% (13-of-53) from the floor. WSSU sophomore forward Briana Arnold led the way for the Rams with a team-high 12 points with eight rebounds in the game while senior guard Awa Kalmstrom added nine points with three steals.

"It was a great defensive effort by our club. Virginia State came in as the top defensive team in the conference, a position that we held for much of the year," WSSU head coach A.G. Hall said. "And we wanted to come out and show who the best defensive team was and I think we did a very good job of it."

The game was an evenly matched affair for all 40 minutes as the two teams scored the same amount of points in three of the four quarters. The first half was especially competitive with the Rams and Lady Trojans playing to a 22-22 tie.

The game was a battle from the very beginning with a thrilling first quarter. A jumper from senior guard Jeri Craine gave the Rams a three-point lead, 8-5, with 6:38 left in the quarter, the largest lead of the quarter for either team. From there VSU took the lead with back-to-back lay-ups before a Kalmstrom free throw at the 4:40 mark tied the game for the third time in the quarter. From there, the two teams played out the string to an 11-11 tie with neither team scoring for the final 2:04 of the quarter.

The second quarter didn't disappoint as well as the Rams and Lady Trojans both scored 11 points each in the quarter to keep the game tied at the half. Virginia State struck early with five unanswered points to go on top, 16-11, but the Rams had an answer when a lay-up from junior guard Taelor Mandeville capped a five-point WSSU run and gave the Rams a 20-17 lead with 4:14 left to play. The Rams would surrender the lead in the final three minutes of the game before a pair of Mandeville free throws with nine seconds left ended a five-point run by the Lady Trojans and tied the game for the sixth time and sent the two teams into the locker room tied, 22-22.

It was in the third quarter that the Rams took control of the game as they outscored the Lady Trojans 14-8. The Rams took control of the game behind a stellar defensive effort as they held the Lady Trojans to just one point for the first six minutes of play and mounted an 8-1 run that put the team on top, 30-23 with 3:07 left to play. The Rams would have to battle to hold to their lead down the stretch as an Arnold free throw with just a second left in the quarter kept the Rams on top, 36-30 heading into the fourth quarter.

As befitting a reigning champion, the Virginia State Lady Trojans came out with a strong fourth quarter effort, but the effort was not enough to stop the Rams. After an Arnold lay-up kept the Rams on top, 42-35 with 5:05 left in the game, the Lady Trojans mounted a furious comeback effort, outscoring WSSU 9-1 over the nex four minutes to leave the Rams trailing, 43-44 with just 00:49 left in the game and set the stage for Johnson's heroic three-pointer from the left baseline that put the Rams back on top, 46-44. From there, the Rams benefitted from a bizarre sequence that included a technical foul by the Lady Trojans for calling a timeout without having any. After a pair of Mandeville free throws were followed by another Mandeville free throw left the Rams on top, 49-44. Sophomore center Kandace Tate capped the scoring for the Rams with a free throw with 00:13 left to play.

With the win, the fifth-seeded Rams upset the fourth-seeded Lady Trojans and will advance to the quarterfinal round of the 2016 CIAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament and will face the Shaw Lady Bears, the top-seeded team from the CIAA Southern Division. The Rams and the Lady Bears are scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. match-up at the Time Warner Cable Arena.

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.