HARRISONBURG, Va.- Looking to end the regular season on a high note, the Randolph women's basketball team went on the road to face Eastern Mennonite on Saturday afternoon. The WildCat defense surrendered its lowest point total of the season as Randolph defeated the Royals 59-50.
"Great team victory," said head coach Steve Lanpher. "We came out with great energy and fight today. We came out a little sluggish and lost the lead but countered with a 17-4 run and took command of the game."
There were four lead changes within the first five minutes of play but the WildCats led by four points, 8-4 with under five minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Eastern Mennonite eventually took the lead back but the score was tied 12-12 at the end of the quarter.
A one-possession game with 6:47 to play in the second quarter, Randolph went on an 8-0 run to take a double-digit lead, 26-16, with 4:09 remaining. The Royals closed the gap but the 'Cats still led 28-23 at the break.
The Royals started the third quarter strong with back-to-back threes to go up 29-28 just under the eight minute mark. After a Kylie Stark (Lynchburg, Va./Brookville) free throw tied the contest at 29-all, a three by EMU's Emily McCombs pushed the home team ahead 32-29 at 6:54. Randolph then went on a 15-6 run to lead by six points, 44-38, with four seconds remaining in the quarter. A pair of free throws from the Royals' Claiborne Poston closed the deficit to four points, 44-40, at the conclusion of the period.
In the final quarter of play, Randolph led 49-42, with 7:25 remaining. Eastern Mennonite got to within six points but the WildCats closed the door on any thought of a Royal comeback as they used a 9-0 run to take their biggest lead of the day, 58-43 with 3:23 left to play. EMU closed to within eight points, 58-50, with 2:15 left but went 0-3 from the field in the final 1:30 and turned the ball over once as Randolph took home the win.
Besides only giving up 50 points, the WildCat defense blocked a season-best four shots. The offense shot 58.3% and 50% in the second and third quarters to settle for a 39.2% (20-of-51) performance on the day. Randolph was 6-of-18 (33.3%) from behind the three-point arc.
The WildCats controlled the glass 38-27. Also contributing to the win was an 11-3 advantage in second chance points, 22-16 lead in the paint, and 28 points from the bench compared to 18 for the Royals.
Stark was just short of a double-double as she led with 17 points and nine rebounds. She also dished out six assists and came up with three steals. Cameron O'Neil (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) had her third double-digit scoring performance in the last four games with 11 points. She grabbed six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Madi Tyree (Forest, Va./Brookville) scored a season and career-high 11 points in 14 minutes off the bench. Maggie Walton (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Catholic HS) and Lanaysia Gonzalez (Richmond, Va./Goochland) both chipped in six points each.
Kylie was a warrior today leading us with 17 points and more impressively nine rebounds, six assists, and three steals," noted Lanpher. Madi Tyree came off the bench with 11 huge points. I also thought our post play from Tenae and Lanaysia were solid especially anchoring the lane."
Randolph now waits to see who and where it will play in the upcoming ODAC Tournament. The field will be finalized and announced on Monday.
