EMORY, Va.- The Randolph women's basketball team took on first-place Emory and Henry in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon. The WildCats hung with the Wasps for all four quarters of play but E&H would pull away in the end and win 64-55.
The victory improves Emory and Henry's record to 12-2 overall and 6-1 in ODAC play. Randolph drops to 5-8 and 1-6 in the conference.
The WildCats jumped up on the Wasps to begin the first quarter as they went on a 10-0 run. E&H rallied to close to within one point but the 'Cats remained ahead at the end of the period 14-11.
Emory and Henry briefly took a one-point lead at the 8:16 mark of the second quarter but the WildCats quickly wrestled it back as Lindsey Marshall (Stuart, Va./Patrick County) sank a three-point basket to put Randolph back on top. E&H went on a 9-4 run to lead 24-21 with 4:15 showing on the game clock but the 'Cats outscored the Wasps 7-2 in the final 3:42 of the quarter to lead 28-26 at halftime.
Coming out of the locker room, Randolph added to its lead with back-to-back three-point shots from Cameron O'Neil (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) and Amber Garrett (Stephens City, Va./Sherando) to go ahead 34-28. The lead was short-lived as Emory and Henry's 9-0 run gave the home team a 38-34 advantage with just over five minutes left in the third quarter. The WildCats got another three from O'Neil and a pair of free throws from Alyssa Morroni (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) to go up 39-38 at 2:39 but the Wasps ended the quarter on a 5-0 run to lead 45-39.
Randolph twice sliced the Emory and Henry the lead to just a point with the final time coming at 6:37 following two free throws by Audrey Antesberger (Scottsville, Va./St. Anne's Belfield. Emory would end the game on a 15-7 run to pull away from the WildCats.
"Overall very proud of our effort," said head coach Steve Lanpher. "We came out with great focus and effort. We executed well offensively and made E&H get out of their man-to-man defense. Kalyn was very active on both ends of the floor and Cam O'Neil was a nice spark off the bench. We were down one with four minutes to go and had some costly defensive miscues that E&H took advantage of."
Kalyn Banks (Clinton, Md./From the Heart Christian School) led Randolph with 14 points and eight rebounds. She also came up with three steals. O'Neil added 12 points with all coming via the three-pointer. Lanaysia Gonazlez (Richmond, Va./Goochland) chipped in nine points and four rebounds
The WildCats shot 18-of-55 (32.7%) overall on the afternoon. The Wasps were 24-of-55 (43.6%) from the floor and were 7-of-12 (58.3%) in the fourth quarter alone. Randolph did have a three-point shooting advantage as it was 7-of-24 (29.2%) to Emory and Henry's 3-of-15 (20%). The 'Cats were a season-best 10-of-11 (90.9%) from the charity stripe while E&H was nearly as good at 13-of-15 (86.7%).
The Wasps controlled the paint 38-14. Second-chance points favored E&H 17-10 as did points off turnovers 22-19.
The WildCats host Randolph-Macon this coming Wednesday at the RAD. Game time is set for 7:30 following the men's game.
