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28th Annual CIAA Women's Basketball Tournament
Saturday, March 2, 2002

TROJANETTES WIN CIAA CHAMPIONSHIP

RALEIGH, NC---The Virginia State University Trojanettes survived a frantic final minute of action before they were able to cut down the nets to celebrate their first Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship since 1988, with their 64-57 win over the Lady Rams of Winston-Salem State University. Head coach Peggy Davis, named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Coach, also became the first woman coach to win the women's tournament since Bertha Cummings accomplished the feat in 1990 for the Trojanettes. She will have a chance to continue coaching next week as the Trojanettes earned an automatic berth into the Division II Playoffs.

"What an exciting year for Virginia State University and for the women's basketball team," said Davis. "We knew it wasn't going to be an easy game, but we knew if we continued with the fundamentals and basics we had done all year it would pull us through. Our motto throughout the year has been Ôonly the strong survive."

The Lady Rams (16-13) had not been to the CIAA finals since 1985 and head coach Daymond Lindell was attempting to win the championship in his first year with Winston-Salem State.

The Trojanettes (20-9) led by as many as eight with 2:12 to play, but the Lady Rams cut the lead to 61-57 with 43 seconds remaining on a jumper by reserve Monique Kirkland. Kirkland was the only Lady Ram in double figures as she scored a game-high 17.

With the Lady Rams forced to foul, the Trojanettes went to the line and sank three free throws in the final 33 seconds while the Lady Rams could not score on their final three trips down the floor. The Trojanettes helped keep the door open for the Lady Rams by sinking just 5-of-10 free throws in the final minute.

Becky McKee, who had scored 10 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in the Trojanettes' semi-final, was named the Tournament's most valuable player after leading the Trojanettes with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Ronmia Bess did a little bit of everything for the Trojanettes and finished with 16 points (three 3-pointers), six assists and seven rebounds, Alonna Marable had 14 points and Rolynda Contee scored all of her 10 points in the first half.

The Lady Rams hit three of their five 3-pointers in the final 2:16, but it proved to be too little too late for them to heat up. They finished the game 5-of-17 from long range and shot just 29 percent (21-72) from the field from the game.

It was the 3:38 of the first half that gave the Trojanettes the lead for good as they ended it with a 12-0 run, taking a 30-25 lead into the break, and the Lady Rams were forced to chase the Trojanettes the rest of the way. The Trojanettes built their lead to its biggest at 14 points with 7:47 to play.

Up 11 points at the 6:48 mark, the Trojanettes turned the ball over four straight times but the Lady Rams were unable to take advantage and cut into the lead. McKee then pushed the lead back to 13 points at the 4:26 mark with two free throws.

Down two early, the Trojanettes used a 9-3 run to take a 14-10 lead with 11:28 left in the half. Contee used her athleticism to get inside and score four of the points and led the Trojanettes with 10 at half.

Lindell went to his bench and got Kirkland who sparked the Lady Rams 15-4 run that gave them the 25-18 lead. Kirkland hit the first 3-pointer of the game for the Lady Rams, who shot 2-of-9 from 3-point range and just 9-35 (.257) overall.