Former WSSU stars tell team to savor championship game

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  Earl “The Pearl” Monroe has closely followed the fortunes of the Winston-Salem State University football team, and he says the one piece of advice he would give players and coaches as they pursue the Division II national championship is to savor every minute.
Monroe, one of the most famous athletes in WSSU history, speaks from experience — he was a key part of WSSU’s run to the Division II basketball championship in 1967, and he played in the NBA Finals three times.
“When I was playing in the NBA, we got to the Finals three years in a row, and I just thought it would always be like that,” Monroe said this week by telephone from New York. “We never got back to the finals again.

“Getting to the championship game like that doesn’t happen often, so I hope they enjoy the experience, and I hope they can get the job done and win another national title for the school.”

Monroe, a member of the Naismith Hall of Fame and a recent inductee into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, played for Big House Gaines at WSSU and graduated in 1967. He said he thinks often about the Rams’ championship.

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Getting to know Winston-Salem State

VALDOSTA, Georgia  — The Valdosta State football team will face the Winston-Salem State Rams in the NCAA Division II National Championship Game Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Ala.

The meeting will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams. The Blazers advanced to the national championship game after going 8-2 in regular season play, finishing second in the Gulf South Conference and earning the region’s top seed. In the playoffs, VSU beat West Alabama (49-21), Carson-Newman (48-26) and Minnesota State-Mankato (35-19).

Winston-Salem State advanced to its first-ever national championship with a perfect 14-0 record. The Rams won the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference this season, earning the school’s seventh playoff appearance.


After playing a weaker conference schedule — their CIAA opponents combined for a 38-44 record — the Rams defeated Shippensburg (37-14), Indiana (Pa.) (21-17) and West Texas A&M (41-18) in the playoffs.

Winston-Salem State is just the second Historically Black College and University (HBCU) school to advance to the national championship game, joining Central State of Ohio, which made the title game in 1983.

If the Rams are victorious Saturday over the Blazers, they would become just the fifth team to win a championship with a perfect, undefeated 15-0 record. Minnesota-Duluth was the last team to accomplish the 15-0 championship season in 2008 and 2010.

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Winston-Salem State Returns to D-II, Rolls to Title Game

COACH CONNELL MAYNOR

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --   Winston-Salem State's financial problems are one reason the Rams are playing for the Division II national championship this weekend.

The historically black university was on track to move to Division I when budget woes forced officials to abort the plan to join the Football Championship Subdivision a few years ago.

So, the Rams returned to Division II and made themselves right at home.

In their third season back at this level, they're 14-0 and preparing to face Valdosta State on Saturday in Florence, Ala., with their first national title at stake.

"I don't know if it justifies (the decision), but I know winning solves a lot of problems, and people like winners," third-year coach Connell Maynor said. "If you win, that will make the people that wanted us to stay I-AA kind of forget about that and say, `You know what, this is all right. This is pretty cool."'

The move back down a rung on the NCAA's ladder sure seems to have agreed with Winston-Salem State.

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Hampton U. retains Rose as football coach

HAMPTON, Virginia  --  Hampton University will retain head football coach Donovan Rose, athletic director Novelle Dickenson announced Monday.

Rose, who just completed his fourth season as head coach at his alma mater, said that he received a one-year extension.

"I'm humbled that I've been given the opportunity to finish this," Rose said. "We had a lot of young guys and a lot of them got valuable experience. Now we need to point them in the right direction and make sure that we take advantage of the experience and clean up a little bit. We showed signs. We were our own worst enemy at times. We've just got to clean up a little bit and get going in the right direction."

The Pirates finished 3-7 overall, 3-5 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. It was the program's worst record since it became a Division I program in 1995. Hampton is 21-22 in four years under Rose and 16-16 in the MEAC.

Rose has been at Hampton for 23 years, as an assistant under former head coach Joe Taylor and then Jerry Holmes. He was promoted to head coach in early 2009, when Holmes was dismissed after one season.

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WSSU Aims To Be First HBCU D-II Football Champ

Winston-Salem, NC -- If you're headed south at any point over the next few days and see some red and white streak past, it might belong to a Winston-Salem State University fan.

The Rams are playing in Saturday's NCAA Division II National Championship game in Florence, Ala., and they'll have plenty of support. Not only will WSSU fans being cheering them on, but the team is vying to become the first from a historically black college or university to win the D-II football title.

"Saturday, we had some CIAA teams that brought their football teams here to watch us play [in the semi-final game]," WSSU assistant athletic director for media relations Kevin Mann said. "They realized this was part of their history, not just our history."

The NCAA says only one other HBCU team has even made it to the D-II championship game: Central State of Ohio in 1983. That team lost 41-21 to North Dakota State.

"One thing about HBCUs," WSSU graduate student Aaron Lide said, is "although we compete against one another and we talk junk against one another, we're all a family at the end of the day.

"And we've been getting a lot of support from other HBCUs," Lide said. "A lot of them are rooting us on and encouraging us because they want to see a similar institution" win the title.





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Reuther is Xavier's first female Academic All-American

TAYLOR REUTHER

NEW ORLEANS — Taylor Reuther is Xavier University of Louisiana's first female to be named Capital One Academic All-America®. Reuther, an outside hitter in volleyball, was chosen to the college division third team.

The College Sports Information Directors of America announced the team Monday. CoSIDA has sponsored the Academic All-America program since 1952. The college division consists of NAIA, National Junior College Athletic Association and Canadian members.

Reuther, a 5-foot-7 sophomore outside hitter from Metairie, La., and a graduate of St. Mary's Dominican High School, is a pre-pharmacy major with a 3.90 grade-point average. She led the Gold Nuggets in kills, aces and digs for the second consecutive season. This year she was among the NAIA leaders in aces per set, and she was chosen Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

"Taylor is an amazing young lady, off and on the court.," XU coach Christabell Hamilton said. "She is quite the perfectionist when it comes to her academic aspirations. She is more hard on herself than anyone else is in that aspect. She transfers the same mentality onto the court. She is a team player and a spectacular leader.

"I am excited for her to be recognized for her hard work as a student-athlete. I am very proud of her for representing herself, Xavier and especially her family well."

Reuther is the fourth from Xavier to be chosen to an Academic All-America squad. The other three were in men's track and field/cross country: Matt Pieri (second team) and Javon Mead (third team) in 2012 and Joe Drexler-Dreis (second team) in 2009. Academic All-Americans are starters or important reserves with at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale. They also must have completed at least one full calendar year at their current institution and reached sophomore athletic eligibility.

Reuther were announced Nov. 8 as Academic All-District 4, which automatically advanced her for national consideration.
    
Of the 19 players on the Academic All-America team, Reuther is the only sophomore.
    
Senior setter Paula Ferreira of Columbia (Mo.) College was chosen College Division All-America of the Year for the second consecutive season.
    
Xavier won the GCAC regular-season and tournament championships and qualified for the NAIA National Championships each of the past two seasons. The Gold Nuggets are 45-15 during Reuther's two seasons, 28-0 against GCAC opponents. Xavier was 22-8 in 2012 and set a school record with 11 consecutive road victories.

More on this Academic All-America team

2012 Capital One Academic All-America Women's Volleyball
College Division First Team
Name	School	Yr.	Hometown	GPA and Major
Anastasija Baranovska	Madonna	Sr.	Riga, Latvia	3.91 English
Lauren Crump	IU-East	Sr.	Indianapolis, Ind.	3.79 Communication Studies
Desiree Erikson	Doane	Sr.	Comstock, Neb.	3.95 Biochemistry
Paula Ferreira	Columbia (Mo.)	Sr.	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	3.92 International Business & Mgmt.
Lindsey Oberacker	Point Park	Sr.	Erie, Pa.	3.96 Biology, Pre-Medical
Katie Zent	Jamestown	Sr.	Lefor, N.D.	3.94 Biology
College Division Second Team
Name	School	Yr.	Hometown	GPA and Major
Sydne Abel	Kansas Wesleyan	Sr.	Lincoln, Neb.	4.00 English
Rae Brandes	Indiana Wesleyan	Jr.	Twin Lakes, Wis.	3.89 Exercise Science, Pre-Physical Therapy
Sabra Clark	Oklahoma Baptist	Sr.	Andover, Kan.	3.82 Pre-Allied Health
Kelly Cole	Asbury	Jr.	Lexington, Ky.	4.00 Elementary Education
Ally Fast	Brock	Sr.	St. Catharines, Ontario	4.00 Kinesiology
Taryn Nash	Spring Hill	Jr.	Independence, Mo.	3.98 International Studies
College Division Third Team
Name	School	Yr.	Hometown	GPA and Major
Kaitlin Feddema	Trinity Christian	Jr.	Kalamazoo, Mich.	3.80 Business Communication
Fei Gao	Concordia (Calif.)	Sr.	Qingdao, China	3.85 Business Administration
Yui Iwase	Indiana Wesleyan	Sr.	Plano, Texas	3.48 Pre-Medical, Biology
Lauren Percival	Mount Vernon Nazarene	Sr.	Amherst, Ohio	3.71 Biology
Gina Porto	Mount Vernon Nazarene	Sr.	Tipp City, Ohio	3.88 Biology
Taylor Reuther	Xavier	So.	Metairie, La.	3.90 Pre-Pharmacy
Calle Solie	Mid-America Christian	Sr.	Glendale, Ariz.	3.96 English, Business Administration

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Miles College defeats Delta State 57-50

FAIRFIELD, Alabama  –  The Miles College men's basketball team improved its record to 3-3 going to Christmas break with a 57-50 victory over Delta State University Statesman (2-4) Saturday afternoon, December 8 at Knox-Windham Gymnasium.

The Golden Bears came out on fire with an 18-6 run on the back of senior guard Lanarrian Key and sophomore forward Stephon Allen 3-pointers at the 11:18 mark and 20-8 lead with 8:18 left, before the Statesman cut into the lead with a 13-7 run. The Golden Bears went to half up 27-23.

Sophomore forward Ronald Foxx, II led Miles with 9-points as he connected on 3-of-4 shots from the field and 2-of-2 three's from behind the arc. Miles connected on 5-of-10 (50 percent) 3-point attempts in the first half.

Terry Leake led the Statesman in scoring in the first half by posting 10 points and 6 rebounds.

At the half, Miles shot 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from the floor, 50.0 percent from behind the arc and hit 40 percent from the line. Delta State hit 8-of-21 shots from the field and made 6-of-7 free throws.

Miles stretched its lead to as large as 14 points at the 6:05 mark in the second half, before Delta State went on a 16-5 run to close the gap to 53-50 with .36 second remaining. Miles' freshman point guard Willie Gray and Allen sank four free throws to complete the scoring.

Foxx led the Golden Bears with 14 points on a 4-of-6 shooting afternoon from the floor; hitting 3-of-3 three's from behind the arc, 3-of4 free throws, grabbed 5 boards, 3 steals and blocking two shots. Allen added 11 points and four assist.

Leake scored a game-high 23 points to lead Delta State, while pulling down 9 rebounds.

The Golden Bears return to action on Saturday on Dec. 29 as they traveling to Tampa, FL to face the University of Tampa at 3 pm. and Eckered College on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Box Score


COURTESY MILES COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION