Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Jan. 28, 1999, edition 1 / Page 13
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SportsWeekSS" I From The Press Box r Sam Davis jum inivve waxes McMWian ngnting to finish career positively The 85-60 loss that Wake Forest suffered to North Carolina State last Sunday afternoon was in many ways a reflection of the kind of sea son and career that Emon McMillian has had at Wake Forest. McMillian, a fifth-year senior forward did well in spots. She scored six points, grabbed six rebounds and had one steal and one assist in 25 minutes of play. She helped Steady the young team against a powerful opponent. Her leadership has been one of the team's strengths this season. It is one of the reasons why the Deacons bounced back from two lopsided losses with one of their better outings of the season. But still the team just couldn't muster enough momen tum to get over the hump and record an upset victory. For most of the season the lady Deacons have been up to the challenge of battling a difficult schedule, which features many of the nation's top women teams. However, Wake Forest just hasn't had enough talent to keep pace with many of its opponents. McMillian said the team is making progress in that area. Despite losing its fourth consecutive game, she believes the team is moving in a positive direction. One of the keys is the development of the team's young front line, which features freshmen LaChina Robinson and Elizabeth Biedryc ki. McMillian has taken a personal interest in tutoring the duo. "It's a role that a definitely welcome," McMilli&o jaid- "I'm willing tt> do whaMM* W I have .to to help this team get better. If its helping the young players, that's some thing that I want to do. That's a vital role for myself." As McMillian looks into the future, she says she sees brighter days on the horizon for the Lady Deacons' program. ~With the level of talent being infused into the pro gram improving each season, she believes Wake Forest will be a team to be reckoned with in the future. But it's going to take some time for everything to come together. One of the main things she's learned at Wake Forest is being patient. McMillian says she tries to apply that to each game and other situations that she encounters. McMillian was a prize recruit .when she came to Wake Forest five seasons ago. McMillian grew up .around the game of i t.-ii fi iv f.ii i? vi.tv:n: played for many years in the NBA and was a member of the 1972 World Champion Los Angeles Lakers. ... . A standout at Western Guilford High in Greensboro, McMillian led her team to a 30-2 record as a senior. She was named to the All-Guilford County and All-Northwest teams. She was also runner-up for the Mary Garber Award, which is given to the North west North Carolina Player of the Year. She was also an honorable mention all-state Selection and played in the East-West All Star Game. She pared ((own a long list of suitors to sign with Wake Forest and Coa'ch Karen Freeman. ( As a freshman, McMillan saw limited action, averaging 7.4 minutes in 18 games. . See Pre?? Sox, on >3 Rams pull out all stops, take 66-55 win over Golden Bulls By SAM DAVIS The Cheowkxe . It was a great day to be a Winston-Salem State Ram. Maybe that's why Coach Rick Duckett broke out a new Red sports coat and WSSU brought out a spank ing new floor at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coli seum. . But the bottom line, after everything was said and done, was WSSU's 66-55 victory over Johnson C. Smith that gave the Rams a share of first place in the Western Division of the CIAA standings last Saturday night. WSSU, which was picked by league coaches to finish last in the division during the pre-season, hasn't been in this type position ,in the league standings at this point in the season since the 1988 season - the last time it captured a regular season divisional title. The win for WSSU was critical. The Rams went on the road to face Fayetteville State in a key divisional showdown on Tuesday night. They follow that with a battle against North Carolina Cen tral, in Durham, next Satur day night in the Martin Luther King Classic. Larry Patterson, who led the Rams with 19 points, said the game presented a "must win" situation for his team. "We wanted to send a message," Patterson said. "We have to go on the road and play some big games and we didn't want to let one get away from us at home." The Rams, coming off a non-divisional loss to Vir ginia State last Wednesday night,- took control qf the game early. WSSU ran into problems midway through the first half, but fought through them to take a 30-24 halftime lead. The Rams' defense See Rom?, on M Photos by Bruce Chapman Torrian Wynn Windell Owens Haywood's 'bis' second half leads Tarheels past Deacons Brendan Haywoocf of North Carolinqpovyers to the basket . m ? ywtMfty'v . --1 "?>?*-?#S-. .^i- ' ,','*r> ' <>? ' .' .' * ; ' 7 ? ? , .*?;' ;/. ?, ??fi'., .??: ?'? ''r:''^j vv'; '?? ? '??? u #? Photo by Bruce Chapman By SAM DAVIS The Chronicle ' Sometimes statistics can be deceiving. That certainly was the case for Brendan Hay wood of the Univ. of North Carolina in a recent game. Haywood didn't have one of his best statisti cal games in last Saturday's 52-40 victory over Wake Forest. But his presence in the middle on offense and against Darius Songaila on defense might have been the difference between an upset loss and an impor tant conference win. Haywood scored eight points in the second half and provided the inertia to lift the lethargic Tarheels to the win. ? North Carolina found itself down by a 24-22 score at halftime. However, the Tarheels, led by Hay wood fared much better in the second half as they outscored the Deacons 30-16. Coach Bill Guthridge of North Carolina said Haywood's presence was the difference in the game. "Both teams are young and are trying to find themselves," Guthridge said. "We were scared to death coming coming into the game because Wake had lost losj^ three in a row. "We came out and tried to do things better in the second half," Guthridge added. "We moved Brendan over to him (Songaila) in the second half and I think our size bothered him some." Haywood, who sat out much of the first half because of foul trouble, said he had to focus after a frustrating first half. * "Coach (Guthridge) always stresses getting the ball inside and then working outside," Haywood said. "I knew that I couldn't get into foul trouble, but 'I had to be more aggressive in the second half. I had to go to the basket and be more of a factor down low. "Oh defense I knew someone had to step up," Haywood said. "You stop the other team from scor- , ing and you win. We felt like we could stop Wake i from getting the ball inside and they would have to / take outside shots" , '' That strategy paid key dividends for the Tarheels/ WalB Forest made only 22 percent of its second halfV shots Songaila, who scored eight first half points \ was limited to only two in the second half and the Deacons had to resort to taking long-range jumpers Haywood took the battle personally, for a num ber of reasons One was the fact that the Deacons' cheering section had a series of derogatory chants directed toward Haywood, a Greensboro native, ,, who played his high school basketball at Dudley High. "I enjoyed the crowd," Haywood said. "When? they said all the Haywood stuff that really pumped me up and made me want to play, I think you could see that in my play." ! Once Haywood threw down a couple of thun- * derous dunks, the rest of the Tarheels offense began to open up. - "I had a couple of great feeds from my team mates" Haywood said. "I hit the boards hard and it just opened it up a little bit," Jackets' Rice, Little, Moore announce their college plans By THERESA DAVIS For The Chronicle Carver's 1999 list of college commitments grew to five during last weekend when three Yellow jacket players announced their ? intentions. Tauric Rice and Dwayne Little announced that they plan to attend Hampton Univ. and Leon Moore made an oral commitment to attend Appalachian State. They join teammates Courtney ! Weaks and Jamille Jackson who announced their plans earlier this month. Weaks said he will sign a letter of intent to play at Win ston-Salem State and Jackson will play at Howard Univ. Rice was a three-year starter in the Yellowjackets' offensive backfield. The 5-11, 190-pounder finished his career with more than 6,000 all-purpose yards and 50 touchdowns. As a sophomore he rushed and caught passes for 1,536 yards and eight touch downs. As a senior he totaled 2,150 total yards rushing, receiv ing and on kick returns. This past season he accounted fpr 1,510 yards rushing and scored 25 total touchdowns as Carver posted a 16-0 record and captured the State 3-A football championship. "Tauric is one of the players who was around to establish this program as one of the elite ones in the state," Coach Keith Wilkes II I Nation's Numbs* Ons Sports Ssction, Among African American Newspapers, For The Second Consecutive Year HI said. He played a lot ol lootball for us and won a lot of games. He played on a championship team every year since he came to Carv er. He was the leading rusher on the jayvee team that won the con ference championship, he started as a sophomore on a team that won the championship on the Srr Y*Howiock?t?, on U Taurk Ik* WSSU women get key victory over J.C. Smith, battle Eagles in MLK Classic By SAM DAVIS The Chronicle The Winston-Salem State women's basketball team hit a high point in a season full of peaks and valleys in a 92-83 vic tory over Johnson C. Smith last Saturday afternoon at the C.E. Gaines Center. The Rams used a superlative offensive effort to improve to 3-0 in the ClAA's Western Division standings. WSSU placed five players in double figures, led by Rachel Hicks' 17 points off the bench. Hicks scored her points in 21 minutes or action, including an eight-of-11 performance from the field. Chriita Wmtt Loacti uebra t_ lark ot wssu said her team, which improved to 9-9 overall, came through at a crucial point in the season. "It's kind of been an up and down season, but we've been lucky to win the important games," Clark said. "But I thought we probably played the best game of the year. We had five people in double figures and I thought that was the key to the game. We shot 55 percent from the floor and 75 percent from the free throw line." The Rams got another strong game from Erica Leggett, who scored 16 points, had 10 rebounds and three steals in 34 minutes of play. Christa West Set Lady Rams, on I)
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