Hickory, N.C. - The Winston-Salem State University Women's Basketball Team (1-0) opened the 2010-11 season with a 58-51 win over Lenoir-Rhyne University (0-1) Friday evening at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.

The Lady Rams' Jasmine Newkirk (Raleigh, N.C.) led all scorers with 24 points on nine-of-15 shooting while Winston-Salem State's defense limited L-R to just 29 percent shooting (17-of-58) for the game en route to the win.

Junior guard Cameron Sealey (Mount Holly, N.C.) was the lone player to score in double figures for the Bears as she finished with a team-high 18 points to go along with seven rebounds.

Winston-Salem State held a 27-22 lead at the break and pushed its advantage to 40-30, its biggest margin of the second half, on a three-pointer by Courtney Medley (Chesapeake, Va.) with just over 13 minutes left.? Medley finished with 12 points and was only other player to score in double figures for the Lady Rams.

Lenoir-Rhyne cut the margin to one point twice, at 42-41 and 47-46, with the latter coming on lay-up by Sealey with 6:05 remaining but the Bears couldn't take the lead.

Winston-Salem took control with six straight points capped off by a pair of free throws by Newkirk with 3:23 left for a 53-46 advantage and L-R couldn't get any closer than four points the rest of the way.

Freshman guard Danielle Bongiorno (Wilmington, N.C.) and sophomore guard Whitley Culler (Mount Airy, N.C.) added nine points each despite the setback for the Bears.

In addition, Lenoir-Rhyne saw its 11-game home winning streak snapped and lost a regular season contest at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium for the first time in 24 games.

Lenoir-Rhyne next hosts Fayetteville State University on Monday beginning at 5:30 p.m., while Winston-Salem State travels to Anderson, S.C., to face Anderson Monday at 7 p.m.