Salem girls basketball beats Glassboro behind Tiasia Tatem, Kayla Robinson

GLASSBORO – The Salem High girls basketball team has not had much luck closing out games this season, as it has lost four contests that were decided by six points or fewer.

Fortunately for the Rams, they didn't have to worry about trying to eke out another tight one against Glassboro. The game was already in the bank by the time they took the floor for the fourth quarter.

Behind 19 points from Tiasia Tatem and 15 from Kayla Robinson, the Rams ended a three-game losing streak and cruised to a 49-17 victory over the winless Bulldogs on Tuesday in a Tri-County Conference interdivision game.

The Rams carried a 41-9 lead into the fourth quarter.

“It was nice to not have any pressure on us,” said Rams coach Shikeena Lynard, who emptied her bench after the third quarter. “We needed that.”

It was a far departure from their last two games, when Salem lost to Wildwood, 47-41, and to Woodstown, 41-37. In the first game of the year the Rams fell to Schalick, 39-35, and suffered a 46-40 setback to Riverside.

The Rams know they could easily be 7-1 if they had pulled out the close games, instead of 3-5.

“It’s been frustrating for sure,” said Tatem, a senior who also grabbed eight rebounds and had four steals. “We have a young team and it’s been good to see that even though we are losing by only a couple points we are finishing games playing hard. As the season goes on, though, we are going to pick it up and those six points are going to be on the other side.”

Only three varsity players returned for the Rams, who went 13-8 last year and lost in the second round of the NJSIAA playoffs. As many as five freshmen are in the rotation and one starts.

With so many new faces this year, developing chemistry has been one of the top priorities, and a blowout win couldn’t have come at a better time.

“This was a big confidence builder for us,” Lynard said. “We also got to work on things that we needed to work on. It was just another game for us to come together as a team.”

For the Bulldogs, who fell to 0-8, it was just another step in the learning process for a squad that is young and includes players who have never before played organized basketball.

“We are building a foundation to get better,” Bulldogs coach Kevin Timbers said. “We are going to take our lumps, but as a team we are going to learn and get better.”