Lady Rams’ historic season ends in Sweet 16 thriller

IUP hits a 3-pointer with seconds left to take the win by a point

The Winston-Salem State University Lady Rams came oh, so close Monday in their bid to upset No. 1 seed Indiana University of Pennsylvania and earn a berth in the Elite Eight, losing 65-64 after IUP hit a 3-pointer to seal the deal with just seconds left in the game.

Although the Lady Rams scored the opening basket to take a 2-0 lead, they soon found themselves down 12-6 with just over two minutes left in the first quarter after the Crimson Hawks went on an 8-0 run. It was the first time a team had taken the lead against the Lady Rams in the tournament. Even so, WSSU led by the slimmest of margins, 15-14 at the end of one.

As the No. 1 seed, IUP hosted the contest, which was played inside the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex. WSSU’s Red Sea of Sound Marching Band and its cheerleaders were on hand to support the Lady Rams.

WSSU opened the second quarter by hitting a layup on an inbounds play to go up three before scoring two more points off a turnover to take a 19-14 lead. With 8:22 remaining in the second quarter, IUP’s coach called timeout after the Lady Rams scored again to go up 7 at 21-14, their biggest lead of the game. IUP eventually trimmed two points off the lead, with the Lady Rams up 32-27 at halftime.

IUP set the tone in the third quarter, scoring the first five points to tie the game at 32, but WSSU came right back to take a two-point lead at 34-32. After WSSU senior guard Makayla Waleed blocked a shot and subsequently hit a 3-pointer to put the Lady Rams up 37-34, the contest was tight with neither team able to amass much of a lead. The Lady Rams led by three, 50-47, at the end of the third.

The fourth quarter was nip and tuck. WSSU led 61-60 with two minutes left in the contest and 64-60 with 34.7 seconds remaining. But IUP scored to make it 64-62 and later had a chance to tie the game, but the Lady Rams stripped the ball, causing a turnover.

However, the Lady Rams failed to get the ball inbounds and turned it over, giving IUP a chance to tie or take the lead. They capitalized by hitting a 3-pointer with about five seconds remaining. The Lady Rams had a chance to win on a last-second shot but came up short.

It was a tough loss for the Lady Rams, who just a year ago went 7-20.

“That was a heartbreaking loss,” coach Tierra Terry said in the post-game press conference. “But as always, we’d like to thank God we were even in this position. To come from where we were to get to the regional championship says a lot about our team. We faced a lot of adversity, even here. So, you know, for us to get this far despite what people thought … I think we had good showing, and I think we definitely let people understand what Winston-Salem State basketball is all about.”

Terry said her squad made errors throughout the game, including missing a couple of crucial free throws and not defending as well as they could have on some plays. She said freshman guard Breonna Roaf of Fayetteville was emotional over missing what would have been the game-winning shot, but it wasn’t the last shot that sealed the deal for her squad.

“We lost the last two quarters,” Terry said. “We only lost the third by two and the fourth by four, but if you win those two quarters you don’t have to worry about this.”

Alana Biosse, a sophomore guard from Charlotte, spoke highly of participating in the NCAA DII Tournament, as well as the Lady Rams’ historic season.

“It’s been a great experience,” said Biosse, who scored 11 points in the defeat. “The amount of stuff the coaches poured into us is incredible. Just being able to be part of such a great season and such a great program, the feeling’s unmatched.”

Freshman guard Ah’Kiaya Pye from Highland Springs, Va., who led the Lady Rams with 16 points Monday, began her comments by heralding Terry and the other coaches. She also said the team was excited when they learned WSSU’s Marching Band, The Red Sea of Sound and cheerleaders would attend Monday’s game.

“We do have a great support system,” Pye said. The school. Outside the school. Winston. North Carolina. We have a great support system throughout. It meant a lot that they drove so far to come support us.”

Despite the heartbreaking loss, WSSU’s Lady Rams had a historic year.

On Feb. 28 in Baltimore, the Lady Rams won their first CIAA Tournament in school history, defeating the Fayetteville State University Broncos by a convincing 17-point margin, 60-43. In their opening round of the NCAA DII Tournament – another first in WSSU women’s basketball history – the Lady Rams easily defeated the Glenville State University Pioneers 88-71 in a wire-to-wire victory March 13. The next day, the Lady Rams won by a slightly bigger margin, defeating the two-time defending Atlantic Region Champions, Gannon University Golden Knights, 67-48 in another wire-to-wire win.

WSSU ended the season with an impressive 28-4 record.

Alumnus Kenneth Sharpe, ’18, a residential education coordinator at WSSU, was among more than 200 people in attendance at Monday’s Watch Party in the Donald J. Reaves Student Activities Center. He said he attended, in large part, “because most of the young ladies who are playing … live in my residence hall, in Gleason Hairston Terrace” and because he wanted to watch the Lady Rams make history.

Also in attendance was WSSU alumnus and new head football coach Tory Woodbury and his players. Woodbury provided pizza from Pizza Hut for the event, said Danari McIllwain, a mass communications major and president of the Student Union Advisory Board, which sponsored all three watch parties in partnership with other campus organizations or departments. Attendees also dined Monday on pizza from Hungry Howie’s, as well as pulled pork, pulled chicken, macaroni-n-cheese and green beans from City Barbeque, McIllwain said.