CHARLOTTE, NC - The Winston-Salem State University Rams (15-16) women's basketball team's terrific run in the 2020 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Women's Basketball Championship Tournament came to a heartbreaking end when the team took a 64-47 loss to the Fayetteville State Lady Broncos (20-8), Friday afternoon. The Rams gave it their all in the loss, but the team's offense was stifled against the smothering Fayetteville State defense.

Though the Rams gave a great physical effort in the game, the team was never able to get their offense in gear in the loss. As a team, the Rams were held to shooting just 25.4% (18-of-71) from the floor in the game. WSSU sophomore guard O'Shea Hatley continued to be a leader for the Rams with a double-double 15 points and 12 rebounds in the game. She was the only WSSU player to reach double-digit scoring against the tough FSU defense.

The struggle began early for the Rams as the team struggled mightily in the first quarter of play. A three-pointer from senior guard Taylor Daniels and a jumper from Hatley were the only field goals of the quarter for the team as they allowed the Lady Broncos to finish the quarter with a 19-6 lead.

The second quarter saw a better effort from the Rams both on offense and on defense, but mounting foul troubles arose to hamper the team's effort to get back into the game. After falling behind by as many as 17 points, 25-8, the Rams cut their deficit down by three points and turned their efforts to the defensive end as they held the Lady Broncos scoreless for the final two minutes of the quarter and went into halftime trailing, 26-12.

The Rams' struggles continued into the third quarter as the team allowed the Lady Broncos to pull away. After opening the quarter with a jumper from graduate forward Brandi Segars, the Rams allowed a 10-2 run by the Lady Broncos to fall behind, 39-16, with 3:41 left in the period. The Rams were able to show some signs of life later in the quarter with a five-point run that was capped by a lay-up from senior guard Aja Stevens that left WSSU trailing, 39-21. However, it was as close as the Rams would get for the remainder of the quarter as they ended the period trailing, 43-24.

In the fourth quarter, the Rams staged a comeback effort, but foul troubles limited the team's comeback effort with three WSSU foul outs. For the quarter, the Rams outscored the Lady Broncos 22-21. The high point of the period came when a Hatley jumper left WSSU trailing by 18 points, 56-38 with 3:37 left to play. From there, the Rams would get no closer until sophomore forward Dahja Williams hit a three-pointer at the buzzer that ended the game and sealed the Rams' 64-47 loss.

With the loss, the Rams finish the 2019-20 season with a 15-16 overall record and made their first trip to the semifinal round of the CIAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament since 2005. 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.