Monday, March 30, 2009

RM's Battle to sign with Queens University


Rocky Mount senior forward Dyonna Battle will be taking her game to the next level.

On April 15, she is expected to sign a letter-of-intent to play basketball for Queens University in Charlotte. Queens, a D-II school, is a member of the Conference Carolinas Conference, which calls Barton College and Mount Olive College home.

Battle had an outstanding career at RMHS - finishing as the school's No. 3 girls' basketball scorer with 1,290 points. Only all-staters Kim Taylor and Danielle Powell finished ahead of her.

She was a four-time NEW 6 Conference All-Conference selection and was the league's MVP in 2008. She was the league's tournament MVP last month. Battle, who led the league in scoring this past season with a 16.6 avearge and hauled down 6.6 rebounds a game, helped Rocky Mount to successive NEW 6 regular season and tournament titles.

Her last two games of her career were truly memorable. Both in the NCHSAA playoffs, she scored a combined 56 points - including a career-high 31 points against Havelock in the second round. In those two contests, she was 23-for-23 at the free throw line. She finished the season shooting 81 percent from the charity stripe.

The Royals went 15-13 this past season under head coach Trudi Lacey, the former All-American player from N.C. State.

Her family and friends will get to see her play at least twice each season when Queens comes east to Wilson and Mount Olive.