LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph women's basketball team hosted Regent in the final regular season home game of 2019 at the RAD Center on Thursday evening. The WildCats recovered from a poor first quarter to outscore the Royals the rest of the way and come out with a 60-42 victory. Randolph improves to 4-5 overall and has won two straight.
The Royals pounced on the WildCats to begin the game as they got out to a 7-0 lead. The advantage grew to 12-2 with just over four minutes to play in the quarter. Randolph rattled off an 8-0 run to get to within two points and trailed 14-10 at the end of the period.
A 6-2 run by the 'Cats to begin the second quarter gave them their first lead of the night, 17-16. Regent got up by four points, 21-17, with 6:39 showing on the game clock but Randolph shut out the Royals for the remainder of the quarter as its 16-0 run gave the WildCats a 33-21 lead at the break. The WildCats were 8-of-15 from the floor in the quarter.
Both teams were off the mark to start the third period as neither could make a field goal. Cameron O'Neil (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) finally ended the drought as she sank a three-point basket with 5:31 left to up Randolph's lead to 36-23. The WildCat lead grew to as much as 18 points and the WildCats were still comfortably ahead to begin the final quarter.
Regent started to chip away at its deficit as it got to within seven points, 47-40, with 5:15 left in regulation. A layup by Elizabeth Ellen (Mechanicsville, Va./Hanover) keyed a 13-2 run by the WildCats as they restored their double-digit advantage and coasted to victory. The Randolph defense did not allow a Royal basket for the last 4:24 of the fourth period. Regent went 0-for-6 from the field and 2-for-6 from the free throw line.
Randolph controlled the paint 30-16 and got big contributions from its bench with 28 points. The WildCats also took advantage of 16 Regent turnovers as they scored 18 points. Randolph dominated the glass 52-32.
"We came out a little sluggish today but our bench gave us a great spark and helped will us to the win," said head coach Steve Lanpher. "Lindsey, Madi, Corrinne and, Alyssa gave us good quality minutes off the bench. Defensively, our zone clamped down and helped us to a big second quarter."
Kalyn Banks (Clinton, Md./From The Heart Christian School) led the way with 12 points and eight rebounds. O'Neil added 11 points with all three of her field goals coming via three-point attempts. Yanessa Cabrera (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson) had a balanced effort of seven points, five rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Lanaysia Gonzalez (Richmond, Va./Goochland) had eight rebounds and five points. Amber Garrett (Stephens City, Va./Sherando) grabbed seven rebounds, dished out four assists, and scored five points.
Randolph is off for the remainder of December and returns to the court on January 1 for a New Year's Day battle at Shenandoah. Game time will be at 2:00 p.m.
