For Immediate Release – 12/7/16 - #137
WildCats Take Down Spirits in Defensive Battle

LYNCHBURG, VA – The Randolph College women's basketball team held on for a 56-51 win over Salem College on Wednesday night.  The nonconference game was highlighted by the defenses both sides played during the 40 minutes.

The 'Cats jumped out to an early lead, as Korin Harris scored right away, which was followed by a fast break layup from Taylor Samuels.  Daijah Johnson got it going with a steal which led to the bucket.  After a Spirit jumper, Alexis Calloway took pass from Harris to put the advantage back to four.  Following another SC basket, Camille Gallagher and Johnson (three-pointer) staked the team to an 11-4 lead.  Points were traded again, before the defenses kept both teams off the board for over two minutes.

Danielle Rizzari knocked down a three at that point, but Salem rattled off six-straight to cut the difference to four.  Rizzari answered with another three, putting the score at 19-12 entering the second.

While the WildCats played better defense in the second period, so did the Spirits.  Randolph held the visitors to only 10 points in the quarter, but could only muster five points.  Samuels hit an early jumper and Harris added the other three, with them being spread out.  However, the 'Cats held a 24-22 lead entering the break and their best period.

Over the first two minutes, Calloway and Harris combined for six points, which was answered by four on the other end.  But the Spirits would only add the same amount over the remaining eight minutes.  Harris got the commanding run going with back to back layups, which was followed by a Lauren Moore jumper.  Harris kept it going with a pair from the line, and Rizzari copied her soon after to make the score 40-26.

SC stopped it with a pair of their own, but Calloway and Rizzari went back to back in a short span to push the score to 44-28.  The guests hit two more free throws to end the period down 14.

Salem came out strong in the fourth, cutting the deficit to 10 with 7:08 left.  However, Kiana Scott pushed it back to 14 with two-straight layups.  The Spirits answered with a 10-0 run to bring the difference down to four with 4:40 remaining.  Rizzari made a tough layup to put the score at 52-46 with 2:52 on the clock, but the lead would be cut to one with 2:03 left.

However, Samuels (field goal) and Johnson (free throws) each had two points over the final minutes and the defense held SC off the board, sealing the victory.

The WildCats defense held the visitors to 34% shooting on the night and forced 22 turnovers.  The team had 18 steals, with all five starters (Harris, Calloway, Samuels, Johnson, and Jacqueline Hockman) all snagging at least two.  Harris led the team with 15 points, while Rizzari had 12 off the bench.  Calloway once again led the team with 11 rebounds. 

Mikayla Seivers led SC (2-6 overall) with 16 points.  To illustrate how well the 'D' was, Sabrina Shepherd was held eight points below her average, scoring 12.

Randolph (4-3) will return to the road this weekend.  The WildCats will face off against Mary Baldwin University (1-6) on Saturday in the final game before finals.  Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.

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