Cold-shooting Rams fall to Glenville State

February 05, 2006|By CHRIS CARTER

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. -

Shepherd University shot itself in the foot Saturday afternoon against nationally ranked Glenville State.

But even if Shepherd would have missed its foot and harmlessly shot the ground, it still would have stood little chance at knocking off the sharp Pioneers.

Though often having time and space to shoot, Shepherd missed from virtually every spot on the floor, hitting just 18 of 67 shots, and the Rams were throttled by Glenville State 88-45 in West Virginia Conference action.

The Rams (12-9, 8-5) never got going as it went 4-for-30 from the field in the first half.

"We missed a lot of shots, a lot of bunnies that we usually make," said Rams coach Jodie Runner. "More upsetting is that we gave up 44 points (in the first half). If we're going to shoot 13 percent in the first half then we have to stop them."

Stopping Glenville proved to be too tough a task for the Rams. For every basket the Rams managed to sneak through the nylon, the Pioneers (19-1, 10-1) made four. They put the Rams away early with first-half scoring runs of seven, eight, nine and 14 points, the last giving them a 44-11 halftime lead.

"It was a pretty complete first half - one of our better ones this season," said Pioneers coach Steve Harold. "I was very pleased with our defense. As long as we play hard defensively then we'll shoot from anywhere. We pull kids for not shooting."

The coaching staff didn't face that problem Saturday, as the Pioneers were on fire from the field, shooting 57.8 percent - including 10-for-18 beyond the arc. All five Glenville State starters reached double figures and a sixth (Liz Bowers) came of the bench to score 13.

One starter, 6-foot-6 center Denae Dobbins, finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Rams' gameplan called for keeping Dobbins from making plays in the paint, but she countered with a mid-range shot.

"We went in to try to get Dobbins off the block and I thought we did a pretty good job of that," Runner said. "But she got some offensive putbacks and she has a nice shot."

Meanwhile, junior guards Christy Alltop and Rachel Redick mastered the long-range shot, combining to go 7-for-10 from 3-point range. Alltop finished with 13 points and Redick had 10. Casey Taylor lead the Pioneers with 16 and Lauren Strong added 10.

Casey Landrum was the lone Ram to reach double figures. The team's leading scorer had 12 - a point shy of her season average - but needed 20 shot attempts. Landrum also led Shepherd with six rebounds.

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