Winston-Salem State Upends JCSU Women, 83-75
Winston-Salem, N.C. (Jan. 27, 2018) – Winston-Salem State knocked down nine three-pointers and shot 51.9% from the field to take an 83-75 CIAA Southern Division win over Johnson C. Smith University in women's basketball action from the Gaines Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Bulls took an early 6-0 lead, but WSSU went on an 8-2 run to knot the score at 8-8 at the 6:52 mark of the first quarter. After the two teams battled to a 15-15 tie, WSSU finished the first quarter on a 9-2 run to lead 24-17.
The Rams would stretch their lead to as many as 14 points (35-21) in the second quarter, but JCSU clawed back, cutting the lead to 35-29 after a
Shanice Neita (Toronto, Ontario) layup with 3:09 before the break. WSSU pushed their lead back to 11 points to take the 43-22 lead into halftime.
The Golden Bulls would cut the WSSU lead to just one point, 45-44, at the 5:41 mark of the third quarter on a free throw from freshman
La'Zarea Bowens (Knightdale, N.C.), but the Rams would again fend off the Golden Bulls, jumping back up by eight (55-47) before JCSU made another run, this time an 8-0 spurt that closed the WSSU lead to 55-53 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, JCSU finally broke through, regaining the lead with 5:07 to go, when
Monique Hall (Melbourne, Fla.) got a basket to fall to give JCSU the 63-62 lead. That lead was short-lived, as WSSU again went up 67-65 on two free throws from Breonna Pate. JCSU would get the 70-67 lead after a
Malia Rivers (Pageland, S.C.) three-pointer, but WSSU tied it at 70-70 after a basket from Jahlia Williams and a free throw from Pate.
JCSU's
Kendall Adams (Opelika, Ala.) provided the 12
th tie of the game at 73-73 with 43 second to go on a slicing layup. WSSU would then score eight straight points to distance themselves from JCSU and eventually took the 83-75 win.
Jasmine Carter (Dacula, Ga.) led the way for JCSU with 17 points while Hall had 14. SeniorÂ
Asha Jordan (Monroe, N.C.) finished with 13 while Neita had 11 in the loss.
WSSU got 20 points from Pate while Teara Johnson finished with 15. Tiana Edwards and Williams rounded out the double-figure scoring for the Rams, finishing with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
The loss drops JCSU to 12-7 overall, 4-4 in CIAA play and 2-2 in Southern Division play while WSSU improves to 9-10, 4-6 in the CIAA and 3-1 in the Southern Division.
