The Rams returned a changed team from the Arizona State Classic after defeating their first ranked opponent since 1988 in a 57 -48 victory over #17 ASU, but also losing one of their starters due to an ACL injury. True to form Coach Beth O’Boyle and her Rams did not disappoint during their return to the Stu for their 5th match in the VCU v UMES series.
VCU has been dominant in their games at the Siegel Center this season and held a 4-0 record versus the Hawks of UMES but struggled to find a rhythm in the first quarter. At the first time out UMES led VCU 11-4 on 71% shooting from the field and there were 4 Hawks on the board. Coach O’Boyle rallied the Rams and post break they returned to close the gap to 2 points with UMES still ahead 11 – 9. Both teams ran dry until a made FT from UMES followed by a smooth fake and basket from Robinson. The first period closed with a 12 – 11 UMES advantage.
The Rams started off hot in the second quarter with an early basket from Ashley Pegram to give the Rams their first lead since 1:18. UMES tied it up off an answer from Alexis Udoji but VCU came back and started a 12 – 0 run with a lay up from Curteeona Brelove before the Hawks finally added 2 from Ciani Byrom at the line. The Rams refused to give up their extended lead and fought back in the field. Hot on defense and on an offensive rampage the Rams turned a 1 point deficit into a 15 point advantage at the end of the quarter leading UMES 35 – 20.
In the third quarter UMES was first on the board with consecutive lay ups from Moengaroa Subritsky and Taryana Kelly reducing the VCU lead to 11. This started a back and forth between the Hawks and Rams and UMES took advantage of opportunities from the line adding 5 of their 13 points from the stripe. They got the deficit to as low as 8 but the Rams maintained a 10 point lead off 6 points from Ashley Pegram and 2 from Brelove with a 43 – 33 advantage.
In the fourth quarter the Rams dominated on the court scoring an additional 20 points in the last 10 minutes while limiting the Hawks to only 6. They out rebounded their opponent 10 – 4 and sealed their 5 – 0 record against UMES off a team effort. Pegram led the scores with 17 points and added 3 assists and 2 steals to the Rams overall stats. She was followed by Curteeona Brelove who recorded her first double double posting up 16 points and 10 rebounds. All in 8 Rams put up points against the Hawks in their 63 – 39 victory moving them to 7-2 on the season.
The Rams travel to High Point for their next game on December 16 before their double header with the men’s team at home on Saturday the 19th.
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