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VSU ESCAPES EMERY GYMNASIUM, BUT WITHOUT THE WINThe Virginia State University Lady Trojans tiptoed to Raleigh, North Carolina to take on the Lady Falcons of Saint Augustine’s College. Sad to say, Coach Evans’ young, but tough troop of Lady Trojans fell to SAC 71 – 59. It seemed as though for every senior, the Lady Falcons rostered three freshmen. However, a determined SAC proved that experience was not everything, but having the heart and will to win was. The preying Lady Falcons attacked the Lady Trojans with a 7 – 0 scoring run at the very start of the first half. Just as SAC started to soar way with the game’s momentum, VSU’s offense found its footing. Most the first half consisted of a ball fumbling festival that both teams participated in thoroughly. The Lady Trojans eased away with the first place ribbon with their two “extra” turnovers. Of VSU’s 12 first half turnovers, SAC creatively converted 11 of them into “extra” points. Lady Trojan #10 Asheley Alexander’s 7 points in the first half brought the Lady Trojans to be within as few as five points of SAC. Nevertheless, Lady Falcon #32 Valicia Brown’s 14 first half points guided SAC to a 37 – 31 lead at the break. In the second half of play, VSU looked to use its first half success of an 82% (14 of 17) free throw percentage to heat up their 21.2% (7 of 33) field goal percentage. Although VSU made five more baskets than they had in the first half, the Lady Trojans still found trouble in shooting. Suspicious minds would even wonder if SAC had a “Sixth Woman” on the court that somehow positioned herself on the VSU hoop to aid in the Lady Trojans accumulating, not points, but missed shot attempts. The Lady Falcons fleet of firepower continued to raid through, over, and under VSU’s defensive fort. Around the eight-minute mark, the Lady Trojan’s full court “no pass zone” press plucked a plethora of Lady Falcon feathers. VSU’s defensive efforts led to SAC adding 14 turnovers to their 10 first half turnovers. The Lady Trojans displayed better ball handling as they only committed 7 turnovers in the second half. In addition, VSU’s 13 points off of the Lady Falcons 14 turnovers brought them, once again, to within five points of their pesky opponents. Unfortunately, the fact that VSU only made 2 of 13 three-pointers in the second half and composed a game field goal percentage of 27.9% (19 of 68), dieted any and all chances of the Lady Trojans pulling off the home court upset. Leading in scoring for the Lady Falcons was #32 Valicia Brown with 25 points. Other scoring contributions came from #24 Kelley Bural with 15 points and #25 Latika Ross with 10 points. Defensively, Brown led with 13 rebounds as Ross added her 11 rebounds. Leading in scoring for the Lady Trojans were #20 Jennifer Rhodan and #21 Erica Glasper each with 11 points. #10 Asheley Alexander followed up with 10 points as #43 Felicia Gibbs dropped in 9 points. Gibbs showed to be the glue of the Lady Trojans’ defense as she hustled for 7 rebounds and 7 blocks. |
