Rams fight back, but fall short against Dragons

The Rams showed a strong effort but couldn’t weather the storm, losing to the Towson Tigers 59-52 yesterday. VCU was led by senior Michele Cosel (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee), who tied a career high with 20 points and contributed four assists and four rebounds. Quanitra Hollingsworth (Chesapeake, Va/ Great Bridge) also chipped in with another double-double with 11 points and 17 rebounds.

The game was full of spurts, with Towson starting the game with a 10-1 run.

“We came out sluggish, and our energy wasn’t there today,” said Cosel.

VCU then went on its own 11- 3 run to pull close.

The Score
VCU 52
TOWSON 59

With 5:13 remaining in the first half, Cosel and Hollingsworth were forced to come out of the game because of foul trouble. The Tigers used this to their advantage and went on a 9-2 run to extend the gap to 29-15 by halftime.

The teams traded baskets to begin the second half, and with 13:41 remaining in the second half, the Rams trimmed the lead to seven at 37-30. This was as close as they would come.

For most of the second half, VCU kept their deficit between nine and 10 points, but untimely turnovers and poor foul shooting (11-of-24) troubled the Rams. On a positive note, the Rams did outscore the Tigers in the second half, 37-30.

Inside the numbers
Towson (5-4 CAA, 14-5): Davis 2, Robinson 12, Baker-Brice 14, Freeman 18, Mahan 5, Abraham 0, Snowden 0, Beasley 8, Keown 0, Gaston 0, Pyne 0. Totals: 20 16-24 59. 3-pointers: Freeman 2, Baker-Brice.

VCU (3-6, 10-9): Vaughn 8, Hollingsworth 11, Cosel 20, Chistova 3, Jones 0, Waller 7, Rorie 0, 3. Totals: 18 11-24 52. 3-pointers: Cosel 4, Chistova.

The Rams have lost two in a row and drop to 3-6 in conference play and 10-9 overall. VCU remains in 8th place in the CAA. VCU hopes to rebound on Thursday against Delaware at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.