The News Argus February 1994 - Page 6
SPORTS
Lady Rams Have A Rocky Season
BY TOLLY CARR
Sports Editor
The Winston-Salem State Lady Rams
began the season with a lot of optimism
with a new coach, all five starters from
last year and a highly touted new comer in
Chellia Nelson.
The Lady Rams opened the season
with two away games where they were
still getting adjusted to the new coach and
the new system of full court pressing and
looking for the fast break. The ladies lost
to Shaw and Elizabeth City State before
returning home to play Bowie State
during the Thanksgiving break.
In the Bowie State game the Lady
Rams got off to a slow start but made a
dramatic comeback with their full court
trapping defense but in the end the Lady
Bulldogs took the Lady Rams by the
horns and put their record at 0-3.
In the next four games the Lady
Rams played .500 ball with a huge win
over Bennett and a big road win over
Hampton. The Lady Rams did not fare to
well out of the conference with losses to
Gardner Webb and Mars Hill but they did
manage a victory over Mount Olive right
before Christmas.
The Rams started the new year off
with a home game against Elizabeth City
State on Jan. 2. The Lady Rams were
hurting themselves with a lack of
defensive rebounding against a fairly
large Lady Viking front line but managed
to stay within striking distance. The
Rams got pretty good offensive
balance from their big three Chellia
Nelson, Kendra Horne and
Denettra Parker but they fell
short only by a little. The
Lady Rams had a chance
to tie the game with about
five seconds left but a shot
in the lane rimmed out as
time expired.
Three days later the Lady
Rams were going up against
their toughest opponent of the
year, Norfolk State University.
Norfolk State had four of their
five starters placed on thei
prescason All-CIAA squad
and hardly anybody gave the
Lady Rams a fighting chance.
Surprisingly the Lady Rams(
played very well and only
trailed by two points at the
half. The Lady Rams played
very well and showed
maturity as a team opening
up the second half by
coming out and scoring the
first four points to take a
lead that they would hold,
until about the last five
minutes of the game
Norfolk State’s full court
pressure caused the Lady
Rams to breakdown in the
final minutes of the game as
they lost the lead and the
ball game.
Despite the
showed
that when they
"put their minds to
it and give a 110
percent they can compete
with any team they face.
The game against
Norfolk State was a
sort of warning of a dismal
January heading their way.
Imagine this, you play good enough
for 95 percent of the game and have
a chance to win until a few
mistakes in the last two minutes
of the game turns into disaster
,and you lose. That’s the story
of the Lady Rams, they play
/well for about 38 minutes and
/then something always happens
/in the end.
Going back to my original
/thought on the month of January,
/the Lady Rams were winless in
/the first month of 95 with losses
/to St. Aug, Central, Fayetteville
jSt, J.C. Smith, Barber-Scotia,
Virginia St., Union and Shaw
University.
February was a little kinder to the
Lady Rams as they won four of their last
eight games to end the regular season.
The Lady Rams looked impressive with
two wins against Livingstone, a victory
over J.C. Smith and a win over St. Pauls
on the road. The Lady Rams even looked
good in close losses to A&T and
Fayetteville State.
At press lime it seemed as if the Lady
Rams would face either Virginia Union or
Virginia State in their first round of the
women’s portion of the CIAA
tournament.
The Lady Rams will miss seniors
Natasha Buford and Kendra Horne but
have a lot to look forward to with
returning players Keisha Butler, Chasity
Whitaker, Denettra Parker, Manita
Broaddus and prime time player Chellia
“Church” Nelson.
W
Herron: An Underrated Ram
BY TOLLY CARR
Sports Editor
You figure if you lead the CIAA in
steals and assists your sophomore and
junior years you should be a preseason,
All-CIAA selection heading into your
senior year. Wrong!!
Patrick “Pearl” Herron , a 5 foot 8
inch guard from Charlotte, N.C., is one
of the most underrated players in the
CIAA.
That is really not much of a surprise
though seeing that short guys are always
discriminated against in basketball. One
only has to look as far as Herron’s
hometown of Charlotte, N.C. and the
Charlotte Hornet’s Mugsy Bogues. Night
in and night out people complain about
Bogues, a 5 foot 3 inch guard, saying he
is 10 short, he is a liability on defense, but
the Hornets are currently playing above
.500 with Bogues at the starting point
guard position and no one can match
Bogues’ speed in the open court.
Back to Herron who last year totaled
202 assists and 97 steals in 27 games to
lead the CIAA in both categories for the
second year in a row, but no preseason
consideration for All-CIAA.
Obviously, he is the quintessential
point guard leading the league in assists
and steals along with five points per
game.
One reason Herron was looked over
is that the powers that be in the CIAA
have a tendency to vote for Norfolk State
players. Norfolk State had four men and
four women on the preseason squads,
leaving only six spots open for the men’s
squad and nine for the women’s.
Let’s not forget Hampton’s preseason
All-CIAA selection, Kevin “Wink”
Gregory. Was he going to be eligible to
play during the fall semester or during
the spring semester.
Not only is Herron a crowd favorite
with the Ram fans for his hard play but he
is a “Pearl” in the oyster for Head Coach
Thomas Snowden also.
During the preseason Snowden said
“Herron’s quickness was so unbelievable
that it requires opposing teams to have to
make adjustments.”
It seems that the CIAA voters need to
make some adjustments in their balloting
when it really counts, post season All-
CIAA selections. Herron has not done
anything to detract voters with a 12 assist
and eight steal performance against
Bowie State and a career high 16 assists
versus High Point University.
Do not just take my word for it,
watch himplay during the CIAA
Tournament this week and make your
own choice.
HEY RAMS!!!
GET BUSY
STUDYING
FOR
MIDTERM
EXAMS
AFTER
CIAA!!!
MARCH 7-10