Tierra Terry’s charmed homecoming to Winston-Salem State continued Monday with a major honor.
Terry, a former Lady Rams women’s basketball player who led this year’s WSSU squad to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16, was named the Clarence “Big House” Gaines Division II Coach of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.
The award is named for Winston-Salem State icon Clarence “Big House” Gaines, the long-time men’s basketball coach at Winston-Salem State from 1946 to 1993.
Gaines won eight CIAA championships, six CIAA coach of the year awards, and with Hall of Famer Earl “The Pearl” Monroe leading the way, won the NCAA Division II championship in 1967.
After five years as head coach at Virginia Union, Terry was hired last April to coach the Winston-Salem State women.
The Lady Rams won the CIAA regular season title with a 28-4 record.
That record included a dominant run in the conference tournament in Baltimore, where the Lady Rams outscored their opponents (Bluefield State, Claflin and previous champion Fayetteville State) 198 to 124.
WSSU took down Glenville State 88-71 and Gannon 67-48 before losing a heartbreaking 65-64 decision to host Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the Atlantic Region Finals.
The Lady Rams were honored by Forsyth County, North Carolina government last week, as April 2 was declared “WSSU Lady Rams Basketball Team Day.”
