Box Score LYNCHBURG, VA — The Randolph College women's basketball team will finish play for the time before the Holiday Break with two contests, travelling to Randolph-Macon College Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. in Ashland, VA before returning to the Randolph Athletics and Dance (RAD) Center Saturday with a matinee affair with non-conference foe Barber-Scotia College at 2 p.m. Randolpb is coming off a 0-2 week, as the WildCats fell on the road to Hollins and Bridgewater.
Game Details
Opponent:Randolph-Macon College (2-4/1-2 ODAC)
Site: Ashland, VA
Facility: Crenshaw Gymnasium
Date: December 6, 2011
Time: 7 p.m.
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Game Details
Opponent:Barber-Scotia College (3-8)
Site: Lynchburg, VA
Facility: The Den in the RAD Center
Date: December 10, 2011
Time: 2 p.m.
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What to Watch For
Randolph has not been getting good offensive production out of its returning players thus far this season, something that will need to change this week. The WildCat top three returning scorers of Lauren French (Blairs, VA/Chatham), Olivia Johnson (Monroe, NC/Union Academy) and Courtney Bouchard (Fairfax, VA/W.T. Woodson) have combined to average 8.9 points a game this year after finishing the 2010-11 season with a combined scoring average of 27.0 points. Look for all three to have bigger scoring roles going forward.
A Look at the Yellow Jackets
Randolph-Macon College was picked as the preseason favorite in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, but has stumbled out of the gate thus far, going 2-4 in its first six contests. Head Coach Carroll Lahaye is currently four wins short of the 500 win plateau, a mark only reached by only 15 other women's basketball coaches at the D-III level. Senior Maggie Roy, an All-ODAC returner, is shooting only 26 percent from the floor, which has hurt R-MC. Senior Taylor Wieczorek has continued her strong play up front with 15.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, while first-year guard Sarah Parsons has stepped right in and scored 14.5 points per contest. Randolph-Macon is traditionally one of the most fundamentally sound teams in the league, and this year is no different, as they've turned the ball over only 99 times in 6 games.
A Look at the Sabers
Barber-Scotia College is in its first season with a women's basketball team, and they have been pretty competitive thus far. The Sabers have gotten nice production from an array of their players, though Lindsay Lee and Synquis Phllips have handled the majority of the scoring load. Darrian Bush has also helped off the bench for the Sabers, who are currently 3-8 on the season. B-SC likes to get up and down the court, and is very athletic according to reports, but turn the ball over a lot as evidenced by their 37 against Saint Augustine's and 36 against Livingstone.
Baker's Dozen
First-year guard Brianna Lowry (Herndon, VA/Herndon) has done a good job of scoring the basketball, and has seemed comfortable with getting to the 13 point sport. Lowry has 13 points in four of the six games played, posting 15 and 16 in the other two.
Rebounding Woes
Since first-year Jensen Hoover (Woodstock, VA/Central) went down with a leg injury, Randolph has struggled to rebound the basketball. In the last two games, Randolph has lost the rebounding battle by a combined 45 boards, including getting outrebounded at Hollins 51-24.
Getting to the Line
The WildCats have done a nice job this year of getting into the lane and earning foul shots. Randolph has taken 145 free throws on the season, which is currently second in the conference behind only Eastern Mennonite. Lowry leads the conference in free throws made (30) and attempted (43).
Rejected!
Randolph had a tough time inside with post defense last year, as the WildCats finished the 2010-11 season with only 35 blocks. Randolph already has 16 this year, led by the league-leading nine from first-year Megan Russell (Pinnacle, NC/West Stokes) .
Archbishop Scorer
The WildCats have been looking for secondary scoring, and that has come in the form of first-year Bonnie Bishop (Fairfax, VA/Trinity Christian) . Though she's not the fastest or most athletic, Bishop knows how and when to score, as she has improved her career-high in each of the last three games.
0-No
Senior Lauren French scored no points Saturday afternoon at Bridgewater, the first time since last year's road game at Virginia Wesleyan that happened. The good news is that Lauren responded then with double-digits in her next five outings including 19 points the next game against E&H.
Thief in the Night
First-year guard Chelsea Tyler (Richmond, VA/Henrico) is still adjusting to the speed of the college game, but she brings tools that are going to translate well. Tyler has 12 steals on the season, which is first on the team and 11th in the ODAC.
Trimming the Turnovers
Randolph struggled mightily last season with turnovers, giving the ball away over 25 times a game. The WildCats have trimmed the number down to 21 this year, and that is understanding that Randolph is playing with two first-year ball handlers this year.
Up Next
Randolph will get a couple weeks off for the Holidays before returning to action December 30 against the Cougars of Averett University in the RAD Center at 6 p.m.
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