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Lady Rams stage great second half
in hard-fought loss to Livingstone
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The Winston-Salem State Lady Rams (7-13, 3-7
CIAA) gave the #11 Livingstone Blue Bears (20-0, 11-0
C1AA) all they could handle in a hard-fought 64-56 loss,
Saturday evening, Jan. 31.
Though the Lady Rams took the loss, the team was
never short on fight as they staged a furious second half
rally against their only ranked opponent of the season.
After struggling in the first half, the Lady Rams gave
a stellar second-half effort that saw the team outscore the
Blue Bears, 46-36 in the second half. However, the Lady
Rams could not overcome their toughest first half of the
season as they managed just 10 first half points. As a team,
the Lady Rams shot 31.4 percent from the floor, including
shooting 9.5 percent (two-of-21) in the first half of the
game.
WSSU senior forwards Dionna Scott and Jovanah
Graham led the way for the team with 12 points each in
the game. Redshirt-senior guard Taylar Wells added 12
points off the bench as well. Sophomore forward Jasmine
Carter pulled in a team-high eight rebounds as well.
The Lady Rams gave a great effort in the early going
of the game when a Graham jumper at the 14:25 mark, left
the Lady Rams within one point of the Blue Bears, 6-5.
However, the jumper marked the last field goal of the
half for the Lady Rams.
For the remainder of the half, the Lady Rams managed
just five more points in the half, all from free throws and
took a 28-10 deficit into the locker room at halftime.
The second half turned out to be a much different story
as the Lady Rams clawed their way back into the game
with a great offensive showing.
For the half, the Lady Rams shot 46.7 percent (14-of
30) from the floor in the half. The Lady Rams kicked
things off with an 11-4 run that included a three-point bar
rage from Edwards and Wells. Edwards hit a pair of three
pointers while Wells added one of her own during the run.
The effort cut the WSSU deficit down to just 12 points,
33-21 with 16:15 left.
The Lady Rams were able to get their deficit down to
single digits when junior forward Jeri Craine hit a lay-up
at the 10:39 mark that pulled the Lady Rams within strik
ing distance, 42-34 with 10:39 left.
The lay-up capped an 11-6 run by the Lady Rams.
Things got really interesting for the Lady Rams when
sophomore center Sha'Quira Palmer hit a jumper at the
8:26 mark that pulled the Lady Rams within four points,
42-38 with 7:48 left to play.
Unfortunately, the effort turned out to be a last stand
for the Lady Rams as the team allowed Livingstone to
push its lead back to double-digits after a 10-2 run by the
Lady Rams that left the team trailing, 54-40 with 3:49 left
to play.
The Lady Rams made their last stand in the final min
utes of the game when Edward's fourth three-pointer of
the game pulled the team within 6 points, 60-54 with
00:48 left to play. However, the connected on four free
throws and held the Lady Rams to just one lay-up for the
remainder of the game to seal the tough loss.
The loss marked the Lady Rams' first loss to
Livingstone since 2007.
WS Prep
from page SI
individuals on offense. Yet, there is no designated "go-to"
scorer. It's all by design. Tibbs preaches scoring balance
and that's what he's getting. The starting five of Javier
Dixon, Caleb Burgess, Justin Carter, Ryan Palmer and
Photos by Charles E. Leftwich. Jr.
Prep's Ryan Palmer goes in for a lay up.
East Forsyth
from page B1
game at 58 midway
through the fourth quarter.
Devin Higgins came up
with a steal at mid-court
and scored on lay-up to put
the Eagles up by 2 points.
Higgins stole another
Northwest Guilford pass
that led to points, which
helped East Forsyth extend
its lead to 62-58 with 3:11
to go.
"Once we got that four
point lead, we never let up,"
said Minor. "That was the
critical difference. Plus,
we've cut our rotation
down to eight players and
our guys responded very
well to that."
Visiting Northwest
Guilford refused to wilt
under pressure on the
Eagles home court. Chris
Alley hit a pair of free
throws to cut the East lead
to 65-63.
But Sherrod Wells con
verted a foul shot and
Curtis Coleman made a
pin-point pass to Darius
Goolsby on a fast-break
lay-up to push the lead to
68-63 with 1:05 remaining.
The Vikings derailed
their chances for victory
when they missed four con
secutive foul shots with
less than a minute lefr to
play. Wesley Barham hit a
3-pointer from the top of
the trim the East margin to
69-66, but it wasn't enough
K.J. Watson average between 9 and 14 points per game.
The scoring average for the bench as a whole is close to 7
points per player.
"When I looked over our team stats a few days ago,
the first thing I noticed was how the points were distrib
uted," said Tibbs. "Nobody is averaging 20 points a game,
but as a team, we're averaging around 70. That's the kind
of balance we need to win consistently. If an opponent
can stop one of our
scorers, we have
others who can step
in and give us what
we need."
Aside from
defense and scoring
balance, Prep has
benefited from the
contributions of a
backcourt tandem
that's as effective as
any at the junior var
sity level. Javier
Dixon and Caleb
Burgess have differ
ent playing styles,
but they mesh togeth
er well. Dixon is a
true point guard, who can score when needed. Burgess is
fearless with the ball in his hands, but he also makes good
use of his court awareness to find open teammates for
good shots.
"Javier is difficult for opposing teams to deal with
because he's able to break any press defense that he
faces," said Tibbs. "Caleb can do it all. There's no ques
tion that he understands. The biggest plus for him is his
basketball IQ. It's extremely high."
Coach Bill Tibbs
to complete a
comeback.
Connor
Sparrow and
H i g g i n s
shared team
high scoring
honors for the
Eagles with
1 *1 points
apiece.
Sparrow sat
on the bench
for long
stretches in
the second
half due to
foul trouble.
I n <
Sparrow's ^
absence.
Higgins and Goolsby pro
vided what East needed at
Photos by Charles E. Leftwich, Jr.
Coach Rodney Minor signals from the
East Forsyth bench.
both ends of the floor.
Goolsby finished 16 points,
most of those coming on
put-backs in the decisive
fourth quarter. ' Josh
Mahaffey contributed 10
points.
"Darius came off the
bench and gave us plenty of
energy," said Minor. "He
defended, rebounded and
scored when the opportuni
ty presented itself. Devin
came through with two key
steals that gave us a spark
when we really needed it.
It's good to see that our
players are beginning to
understand the message
we've been preaching all
season. It's not about who
starts the game, it's about
being ready when your
number is called."
For Northwest Guilford
(14-4, 3-2), Thomas Smith
led the scoring with a
game-high 24 points. Tyler
Young chipped in with 12
points.
"Give Northwest
Guilford a lot of credit,"
said Minor. "They made it
tough on us and their zone
caused problems. But once
we sfarted feeding the ball
to high post, good things
started to happen."
Phouw by Qttrfo F? Leftwkrh. Jr.
East Forsyth's Chandler Brinson (24) defends on the perimeter against Kyle
Sullivan of Northwest Guilford.
QEA revs up
for home
games
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE _
Quality Education Academy's Fighting Pharaoh's are
gearing up for one of three home games left in the sea
son.
Last week. Bull City Prep visited QEA and left dev
astated as the Pharaohs scored a whopping 100 points to
Bull City's 56.
On Saturday, QEA traveled to Raleigh to play Word
of God Christian Academy. Although, The Pharaoh's
played well and fought hard, they were defeated in
Raleigh with the final score being 59 to 68.
With' the upcoming home game on Tuesday, Feb. 10
(QEA vs. Prominence Academy), the Fighting Pharaohs
are eagerly anticipating hitting the road on Thursday,
Feb. 12, to Mouth of Wilson, Va. to play lortgtime rival
Oak Hill Academy.
Quality Education Academy celebrates athletic suc
cess and academic success as well; kicking off the sec
ond semester with its K-12 parent night and reading cafd,
where students and parents were motivated to focus on
reading together to achieve academic success.
Coach
from page BI
tions at Shaw and St. Augustine's, Howard is well-versed
on what it takes to win in the conference. The fruits of her
first recruit
mg ciass are
a reflection
of what she
knows about
bringing in
the right per
sonnel.
"The
tempo in the
CIAA is up
and-down
and it's fast,
so you need
quickness
and athleti
cism," said
Howard,
who lives in
Winston
Photos by Charles E. Leftwich. Jr. Salem With
Prior to taking the job at Livingstone, her husband,
Anita Howard was the head coach at jheo and
Salem College. three chil
dren. "I was
able to bring in the new pieces we needed to go with the
returning players. But there was one concern. I signed
some basketball divas, players who came from larger pro
grams. The only question was how long it might take to
develop team chemistry. The divas and the returning play
ers hit it off from the very start, on and off the court. This
group believes they believe they can accomplish great
things this season."
On the front line, power forward Kyra Crosby, a 6
foot-1 senior transfer from Georgia State, leads the team
in scoring "(13.6 points per game) and rebounds (6.6 per
game). Crosby -is followed by Cierra York and Precious
Roberts (both average 12.9 points per game). JUCO trans
fer Amber Curtis, nicknamed "Kobe" because of her scor
ing prowess, has the capability to score points in a hurry,
especially from 3-point range.
"This season has been a journey and it's been enjoy
able," said Crosby. "No two games are the same. So, I'm
always looking forward to seeing what kind of adjust
ments we end up making in order to continue winning
games."
Roberts' decision to leave Prairie View A&M and
come to Livingstone was heavily influenced by Toni Gore,
her community college coach at Indian River State (Fla).
For Roberts, Gore's strong recommendation carried a lot
of weight.
"Coach Gore was the best coach I've ever had," said
Roberts. "So when she told me that she rpentored Coach
Howard, I was very interested. Even when we first talked
on the phone, I had a real good feeling about Livingstone.
I love how Coach Howard treats us as players and as
women. I know I made the right choice."
In case folks don't know by now, women's basketball
at Livingstone isn't what it used to be. The Lady Blue
Bears have played every team in the conference and
demonstrated that they are no flukes. Along the way,
they've raised some eyebrows and turned some heads.
"It's a new day at Livingstone," said Howard. "We're not
going anywhere. We're here to stay."
Livingstone center Kyra Crosby (In middle) is thrilled
about being a key part of the Lady Blue Bears break
through season.