After a tough loss to Fairmont State last week, the Lady Rams proved that they are progressing in the right direction by making Saturday’s game against West Virginia State a fight for the Yellow Jackets.
This past Thursday night, the Rams suffered a loss against Fairmont State, dropping their record to 2–13 and boosting the Falcons to a record of 8–5. The Rams were led by junior center Gabby Flinchum who racked up 25 points for the Rams. Freshman guard Cara Mason followed Flinchum in scoring with 18 points.
Shepherd shot a solid 48.6 percent from the floor but went 0–5 beyond the arc. Between missed shots and top Fairmont State scorers Makenzie White, who sunk 25 points, and Hailey Garrett, who tacked on 18 points, the Rams were not able to keep pace with the high-flying Falcons team. Unable to close the gap, Shepherd fell to Fairmont State by a final score of 91–78.
Despite the loss, the Lady Rams came ready to play on Saturday when they hosted the West Virginia State University Yellow Jackets. The Rams were able to maintain the lead for a majority of the game, forcing a total of 19 turnovers, many of which resulted in points for Shepherd.
The Yellow Jackets trailed close behind throughout the first half with the help of leading scorer Lexy Carson who recorded a career-high of 26 points in the game. Flinchum, Shepherd’s leading scorer for the game, finished with 21 points and made a layup with one second left in the first half that put the Rams up 41–34 with 20 minutes to go in the game
Other top Shepherd scorers for the game included junior guard Rachel Johnson of nearby Frederick, Md. who added 16 points and Mason who put an additional 13 points on the board for Shepherd. Senior forward Jimyse Brown and junior guard Briana Vaden also contributed 11 points apiece.
The Yellow Jackets fought to close the gap for a large portion of the half but couldn’t grasp the lead. After a lot of back and forth scoring, the Yellow Jackets managed to get within one point of the Rams with a score of 80–79. With 44 seconds left, Carson sunk two free throws at the line to put the Yellow Jackets up 81–80.
The Rams fought to regain the lead, but Carson sunk an additional two from the charity stripe with 30 seconds on the clock. Carson’s free throws were followed by Rachel Ward who scored two points from the line with only two seconds left, putting the game out of reach for the Rams and dropping them to a record of 2–14 overall.
The Lady Rams will travel to University of Charleston this Thursday to face the 11–5 Golden Eagles. Soon after, they will continue their road trip and travel to Glenville. If the Lady Rams want to salvage Coach West’s first season in charge, this is the time to make it happen.
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