WS Chronicle

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

The Winston-Salem State Rams (1-4) women’s basketball team got back to their winning ways, Tuesday, evening, Nov. 22, when the team took a dominating 70-53 win over the Morris Hornets (2-6). WSSU rolled to the win in a big way with three players reaching double-digit scoring in the game.

The Rams took the win behind their best effort of the season with a strong shooting performance combined with some solid defense for the win. As a team, the Rams shot a solid 41.2 percent (28-of-68) from the floor.

WSSU junior center Kandace Tate led the scoring effort for the Rams with 12 points while senior guard Trei Torain recorded her first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in the win. Fellow senior center Jatzmin Johnson added 12 points as well.

The Rams took control of the game and never looked back with a great first quarter effort. The Rams kicked things off in a big way, jumping out to a 12-6 lead after a jumper from sophomore guard Brionna Pate with 5:18 left in the quarter. Things got tight for the Rams a few minutes later when Morris cut the WSSU lead down to three points 12-9 with 4:26 left in the quarter, but the Rams answered in a big way with nine straight points, including a Torain three-pointer and a Tate lay-up with 1:25 left in the quarter that left the team on top, 21-9. After allowing a pair of Morris lay-ups in the final seconds of the quarter, the Rams 21-11.

The Rams continued to dominate the game with a stellar second quarter. The Rams opened the quarter with a 13-2 run that included the team scoring 11 unanswered points to go ahead, 34-15, with 4:38 left in the half. The Rams went ahead by as many as 20 points, 38-18 after a lay-up from Pate with 1:33 left in the half. The Rams allowed a pair of Morris scores in the final minutes of the half to take a 38-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The second half began with a challenge from the Hornets as Morris scored on back-to-back baskets to cut the WSSU lead down to just 13 points, 38-25 with 8:56 left in the quarter. The Rams’ lead would get trimmed down to as few as 10 points, 40-30 with 6:24 8:56 left in the quarter. The Rams’ lead would get trimmed down to as few as 10 points, 40-30 with 6:24 left in the third quarter before the team answered. A brief 6-3 run by the Rams that included a pair of Torain lay-ups left the Rams on top, 44-30 with 5:28 left. The team would push its lead to 15 points after a pair of free throws from senior forward Jasmine Carter at the buzzer left the team on top, 52-37 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Rams were able to close out the game with a strong fourth quarter, but the team had to work to get it done. The points came slowly early for the Rams with Morris trimming the WSSU lead down to 13 points, 55-42 with 6:47 left to play. The Rams would never relent with a free throw from freshman Jahlia Williams with 3:39 left to play gave the team its 64-47 cushion. After allowing a Morris lay-up with just over a minute left to play, the Rams clamped down with back-to-back scores from Johnson and a jumper from freshman guard Taniya Dunn with 00:40 left to play. From there, neither team would score for the remainder of the game and left the final score, 70-53.

With the win, the Rams move to 1-4 overall.