February 01, 2014

Winston-Salem, NC-The Salem College basketball team came into today's

game against The Apprentice School with a sixteen game win-streak. The Spirits were less than one second away from their 17th win in a row, when Shanae Hilliard hit a half-court buzzer beater to give Apprentice a 67-66 win. Satavia Taylor (Chicago, IL) and Jasmine Shabazz (Buffalo, NY)  each had double-doubles to lead the Spirits. Salem falls to 16-4, while Apprentice improved to 15-4.

The game was a back and forth affair throughout the first half. Apprentice held a small 38-32 advantage at the half. They would hold a lead for much of the second half, before Salem came sprinting back from a ten point deficit in the last five minutes to take a three point lead at 64-61. Zy Henderson (Inman, SC) and Tiffany Wildgoose (Nassau, Bahamas) were instrumental in the run by Salem.

With the game tied at 64, LaSashia Connelly (Morganton, NC) drilled a 16-foot shot with 2.5 seconds remaining to give Salem the lead. Hilliard launched a shot from near the sideline at half-court that banked in for the win for Apprentice.

Taylor continued her play on her way to what should be a 2nd straight GSAC Player of the Year award. She had 18 points and 14 rebounds. Shabazz finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, even though she had to sit out a large portion of the 2nd half with foul trouble. Quantashea Lewis (Hartford, CT) finished with 9 points and 11 rebounds. Henderson had 9 points and Wildgoose finished with 8. Each team finished with 48 rebounds.

The Spirits play their last home game of the season on Wednesday when they host Bennett. It will be a Think Pink game in honor of breast cancer. It will also be the senior game for Connelly, Shabazz, Taylor, and Wildgoose.