VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – The Randolph College women's basketball team outscored the Marlins of Virginia Wesleyan College by 23 in the second half but couldn't rally to knock off VWC in dropping a 58-50 decision in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play from the Batten Center Wednesday.

                After struggling in the first half to score, the WildCats (3-18/1-12) ratcheted up the defense and started to hit shots in the second stanza. Randolph held Virginia Wesleyan (14-8/9-4 ODAC) to 21.4 percent shooting in the second half, including forcing the Marlins to miss all nine three-points they took. On the other end, Randolph got hot from three-land, hitting six-of-11 from downtown.

                Down by double-figures most of the game, Randolph rallied and trimmed the lead to just eight with four seconds to go, but ran out of time before it could complete the comeback. The 16 points allowed in the second-half for the Marlins were the second-lowest scoring half by a WildCat opponent this year, and the lowest second-half mark.

                Randolph spread the wealth on offense, as five players scored five or more points on the night. Sophomore Chelsea Tyler (Richmond, VA/Henrico) had a team best nine points, while first-year guard Abigail Bullins (Asheboro, NC/Asheboro) had eight points. Junior Emilee Dunton (Forest, VA/Brookville) had six points on two-of-five shooting from downtown, and Allie Druffel (Centreville, VA/Westfield) added five points and a game-best 11 rebounds.

                Junior Olivia Johnson (Monroe, NC/Union Academy) posted five points and four rebounds off the bench for the WildCats, and Megan Russell (Pinnacle, NC/West Stokes) had eight boards as well for the 'Cats. Randolph held a decided 48-33 advantage in the rebounding column, including picking up 17 offensive caroms. Randolph also nailed six-of-14 from downtown, as well as shooting a solid 76.2 percent (16-21) from the line.

                Virginia Wesleyan was led by the 10 points by both Sarah Seipp and Andrea Paphites, while Nancy Kelly added eight points. VWC shot 36.1 percent (22-61) on the evening, forcing 22 Randolph turnovers.

                Randolph returns to the Randolph Athletics and Dance (RAD) Center Saturday at 2 p.m. for an important ODAC contest with Shenandoah University.

--RANDOLPH--