LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph women's basketball team tangled with Old Dominion Athletic Conference foe Randolph-Macon and climbed their way back from a deep deficit on Wednesday night at the RAD. The late rally fell short in the end as the Yellow Jackets won 54-48.
The WildCats were down 11-4 late in the first quarter until Cameron O'Neil (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) hit a three-point shot with time expiring to make it 11-7 at the end of the period. In the second quarter, the WildCats twice would cut their deficit to one point. Randolph-Macon went on a 10-3 run to go ahead by eight points, 27-19, with 24 seconds remaining until halftime. Once again, the WildCats set themselves up for one more shot and came through as Amber Garrett (Stephens City, Va./Sherando) nailed a three-point shot with four ticks left to close to within five points at the break. Randolph had its best shooting performance in the quarter as it was 5-of-9 (55.6%).
In the third quarter, Garrett herself helped get Randolph to within a point, 28-27, at 8:36. A 17-7 R-MC run to close out the quarter staked the visitors to a 10-point advantage, 44-34.
The Yellow Jacket lead grew to 12 points early in the fourth quarter and Randolph-Macon seemed poised to run away with the contest. It was still a 12-point lead for R-MC with 6:32 remaining in regulation. An 8-2 Randolph run reduced the Yellow Jacket lead to six points, 51-45, with 1:22 left. Randolph-Macon converted two free throws with 27 seconds left to play to go ahead 53-45 but the 'Cats cut to 53-48 after a three from Corrinne Anderson (Amelia, Va./Blessed Sacrament Hugenot). Randolph fouled with just over two second left and the Yellow Jackets made one of two free throws to seal the victory.
Randolph-Macon edged out Randolph in overall shooting as it was 19-of-53 (35.8%) to the 'Cats 18-of-54 (33.3%). Neither team shot well behind the three-point arc. The WildCats were 5-of-15 (33.3%) and the Yellow Jackets 3-of-13 (23.1%). The 'Cats performed better at the charity stripe as they made 7-of-9 attempts.
The Jackets controlled the boards 43-31. Both teams were even in points off turnovers at 16. R-MC had the slight edge in the paint 26-22 but had a wide advantage in bench points (21-6) and second-chance points (10-2).
"Proud of our effort tonight," said head coach Steve Lanpher. "We battled them for 40 minutes. I thought offensively we had too many unforced errors and missed some point blank opportunities. Defensively, we controlled and contained them for the most part. As a young team we have to stay positive and continue to learn. I still feel like our best basketball is ahead of us!"
Yanessa Cabrera (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson) led the 'Cats with 13 points, four assists, and three steals. She also grabbed three rebounds. Lanaysia Gonazlez (Richmond, Va./Goochland) added 11 points. Garrett finished with eight and O'Neil six. Kalyn Banks (Clinton, Md./From the Heart Christian School) pulled down a team-best 14 rebounds.
The WildCats go on the road to Ferrum on Saturday. Game time will be at 4:30 p.m.
