CHARLOTTE, NC – One of their most impressive performances of the season was not quite enough for the Winston-Salem State Rams (14-14) when the team took a hard-fought 68-54 loss to the #12 Virginia Union Lady Panthers (23-3) in the quarterfinal round of the 2017 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Women's Basketball Championship Tournament. The Rams took the loss in spite of a tremendous performance that saw the team led for 24 of the 40 minutes played.

"This game was very interesting. It went in quarters, the way we wanted it to go," WSSU head coach L'Tona Lamonte said after the game." The girls played hard. I can't say enough about the fight these girls had, but three and a half quarters was not enough."

The Rams were especially impressive on defense in the tough loss. As a team, the Rams held the Lady Panthers, the top offensive team in the CIAA to shooting a season-low 32.8% (22-of-67) from the floor. Offensively, the Rams had their work cut out for them as well, shooting 32.8% (19-of-58) from the floor as well. WSSU junior guard Tiana Edwards led the way for the Rams with 11 points, all of which came in the first half. Junior center Kandace Tate added a team-high 12 points with seven rebounds while senior guard Taelor Mandeville added 10 points. Senior forward Jasmine Carter led the Rams' rebounding effort with 11 rebounds.

Defense was the name of the game early as the Rams jumped out to an early 6-2 lead to start the game. The Rams would later push their lead to as many as seven points in the first quarter when a three-pointer from Edwards put the Rams on top, 14-7 and capped an eight-point run by the Rams that included another three from Mandeville. Though the Rams would surrender their lead in the final seconds, Tate would hit a three-point play to end the quarter and left the Rams on top, 17-16.

The second quarter also belonged to the Rams as the team mounted a furious offensive effort to take their largest lead of the game. The Rams opened the quarter on a high note, pushing their lead to six points after Mandeville's second three-pointer of the game at the 8:04 mark left the Rams on top, 23-17. The team kept up the pressure with a five-point run later in the quarter that was capped by an Edwards jumper that left the Rams on top, 31-22 with 5:11 left to play. The Rams kept up the pressure in the final minutes as a jumper from freshman guard Aja Stevens left the Rams on top, 33-26 with 2:02 left to play in the quarter. However, the Rams would cool off as Virginia Union scored four unanswered points in the final minute to leave the Rams on top, 33-30 at halftime.

The third quarter was another heated period that saw the Rams fend off the Lady Panthers, but the Rams allowed a late run to the Lady Panthers that proved costly to the team. Things looked good early for the Rams as the team pushed its lead to as many as five points, 41-36 after a jumper from junior forward Briana Arnold left the Rams on top with 4:13 left in the quarter. It was then that the VUU pressure defense would begin to affect the Rams as the team was held without a field goal for the remainder of the quarter and allowed the Lady Panthers to take a 46-44 lead at the end of the quarter. A pair of Mandeville free throws and a free throw from Tate were all the offense that the Rams could muster for the final four minutes of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Rams had an early spurt to keep the game in reach as a Mandeville jumper with 8:34 left the Rams within one point, 49-48. However, it was then that Virginia Union mounted a 13-2 run that pulled the game out of reach for the Rams. As jumper from sophomore guard Brionna Pate was all that the team could muster during the run as the Rams fell behind, 62-50 with 4:40 left to play. In the final minutes, the Rams could not stand up to the VUU defense with an Arnold jumper being the only WSSU field goal for the final four minutes of the game. A Lady Panther three-pointer with 1:10 put the cap on the scoring for the game and left the Rams with the 68-54 loss.

With the loss, the Rams finished the 2016-17 regular season with a 14-14 overall record. 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.