Sports
B1
Lady Rams good to go
? By CRAIG T. GREENLEE
Chronicle Sports Editor
Are Winston-Salem State's
women poised and ready to reside
in the CLAA basketball penthouse
- suite?
TnflgiTig by thrir 4-1 start Xqe
.the first half of the season, it
? appears that a Lady Rams ascent
; to elite status is all but imminent
Winston coach Stenson Conley
isn't convinced that his team
? deserves so much acclaim so early
in the season. Even so, there were
some folk who felt differently. In
the pre-season Division II
_ women's hoops po41v the Lady
Rams received some votes for
Top 20 consideration.
"I wasn't aware of that," said
Conley, whose team returned to
action this week with two road
games after taking a month-long
break for the holidays. "Actually,
I'm flabbergasted. I never thought
we would be looked at in that
light. For now, I'm hoping th4t
the ladies continue on the pfcce
they've set. The main thing is ihat
they stay focused on what iney
can accomplish." * J
What the Lady. Rams have
accomplished up to now is (very
credible. At the start of this week,
they were one of three CIAA
teams who had not lost a league
game. Winston also had the top
overall winning percentage (.800)
in the conference.
Winston's early season surge
has boon keyed by cenaiMcw!
"For now, I'm hoping
that the ladles continue
on the pace they've set.
The main thing Is that
they stay focused on
what they can accom
plish."
?
-Stenson Conley
WSSU women 's coach
defense and solid shooting ?
from the perimeter and from the
foul line. Conley 's crew leads the
league in fewest points allowed
(58.6 ppg), three-point shooting
(45 percent) and free throw accu
racy (66.1 percent).
"Continuing to play good
team defense will be crucial for
us," said Conley. "It's be?n great
to see how well we've played so
far. We're making the right
switches and rotating like we're
supposed to. That's always been
- hard to teach.
'This week, the big thing for
us will be game shape. We ^ere
off for a while and. had only five
pmclinis- with no games UcfuK'
this week. Our practices have
< been pretty fair, but practice is a
Lot different from a game."
Offensively, .Winston's -
.. women have been lethal from
long distance, thanks to some
bullseye marksmanship by guards
Tracey Bobbin and Bobbi
Fluellyn. At presstime, Bobbin
was tied for second place in the
national stats for three-point
shooting percentage (.667). Bob
bin leads the conference in that
category and Fluellyn (.400) is
No. 4 on the CIAA list.
Bobbin's emergence as an
offensive threat this year has a
strange twist to it. She's getting
more minutes this season because
of her defense, which has had a
positive impact pn her offense.
'Tracey^has been a surprise
for us," Conley admitted. "She's
changed her game to be more
Please seePage B3
o
Rams take it on the chin
f *
By Chronicle Staff
There are days when it just
doesn't pay to get out 6f bed,
much less travel out of town and
playa basketball game. That was
the case for a Winston-Salem
Sute team that staggered through
two horrihfe days at the Smoke
On The River Basketball Classic
in Wilmington last weekend.
; /in the process, Winston was
dumped by Elizabetn City State
(^7-69) and side^swiped by North
Carolina Central (76-52). Appar
ently, the Rams left their game in
Winston-Salem prior to their
departure to the Carolina coast.
A look at the tournament stats
strongly suggests that the Rams
offense was close to comatose.
For the tournament, Winston
averaged 6.5 assists per game as a
Photo by Chronicle Staff
Charles Bennett
team. In both games; no Jtam had
more than two assists. Fact is,
only two Winston pi ayeTs^ record
ed a couple of dish-outs for scores
in each game.
Given that, it's clear that Win
ston got little or no offensive
* movement away from the ball. It
also didn't help matters that the
Rams had back-to-back horren
dous shooting performances ?
from the field and from the free
throw line.
For example, against Eliza
beth City, the Rams had four peo
ple score in double figures
(Michael Eaton - 18 points;
Charles Bennett - 1 5 points; Mike
McNeal - 13 points; Keith
Roundtree - 10 points). McNeal
and Bennett, who pulled down 13
and 12 rebounds respectively,
Please see Page B3
? Photo by Max Dunhill \
Angela Courtney provides the Lady Rams with inside scoring, rebounding and shot blocking.
k
m ?? m w.
'' ? ?//' -
? NBA 6-8s "M
Pistons 27 Hornets
Bulls 13 Lakers ]
Wolfpack 37 D?*cons
Panthers 24 Ta?Heels
' ? - \
CIAA 12-lSs
Broncos 52 Aggies 4!
Bison 48 Golden Btffife
? Rams 61 Eagles 53
Tomorrow
Saturday
: ' . ... '? . > \ ' "<?}> ?>": ,, ; ? * %
NBA 6-8s
Hornets VS. Bulls ?'9
Pistons vs. Lrikers? 1
NCAA 0-1 Is
Panthers vs. Deacons @ 9 a.m.
Bkie Devils vs. Wolfpack @ 10 a.m.
Hoyas vs. Tar Heels @ 1 1:15 a.m.
- ? ?" !."""!
CIAA 12- 13s
Broncos vs. Bison @ 12:45 p.m. >
Photo by Chronicle Staff
as he makes a pass In a game agai^wi me Bulls. Adrian Torrence (12) and Marshall