LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph women's basketball hosted its first game of the New Year on Wednesday night as it welcomed Shenandoah to Giles Gymnasium. The WildCats broke the game open with big second and third quarter efforts to win 76-45.
Randolph improves to 10-2 overall and 5-1 in the ODAC with the victory. Shenandoah falls to 7-4 overall and 2-4 in the conference.
The win is the first for the 'Cats over the Hornets since 2017 and breaks a six-game winless streak against SU. It is also the first time since the 2016-17 season that Randolph has reached double-digit victories.
The Hornets scored the first two baskets of the game in the first quarter to take the early lead. A three from Kylie Stark (Lynchburg, Va./Brookville) cut it to a one point deficit and after a layout by Shenandoah, a three from Teniyah Crenshaw-Patterson (Newport News, Va./Heritage) tied the game up at 6-all. Randolph would lead 12-10 at the end of the quarter.
The WildCats went off to start the second quarter as a 9-0 run to put them ahead 21-10 with 7:37 remaining. SU cut the lead to six points but another big run by the 'Cats, this time 13-5, put Randolph up 37-20 at halftime.
Jumpers by Cierra Cook (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) and Stark to start the third period increased the WildCat advantage to 41-20 less than one a half minutes in. The Randolph lead grew to as much as 30 points late in the period. The WildCats maintained their sizable lead into the final period of play as Shenandoah could not cut into its deficit.
Randolph shot 27-of-61 (44.3%) on the night while SU was 18-of-50 (36%). The WildCats were 7-of-19 (36.8%) from behind the three-point arc with Shenandoah going 2-for-12 (16.7%). Both teams performed well at the charity stripe. Randolph was 15-of-21 (71.4%) while Shenandoah was 7-of-10 (70%).
The WildCats controlled the boards with a 38-31 advantage. Randolph committed a season-low eight turnovers while SU turned the ball over 18 times. The WildCats took advantage of those 18 turnovers to score 29 points. The WIldCats also outscored Shenandoah's bench 15-2 and controlled the paint 30-24.
"Our defensive intensity set the tone for our victory tonight then offensively we controlled the game with really nice execution garnering quality shots and only having eight turnovers," said head coach Steve Lanpher. "We played with poise and were extremely unselfish."
Two players reached 20 points for Randolph on the evening led by Crenshaw-Patterson's career-best 25 points. She added eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Stark tallied 23 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Also reaching double figures for the WildCats was Natalie Clark (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) with 12 points. Cook added nine points. Yanessa Cabrera (Manassas, Va. /Stonewall Jackson) finished with just four points but dished out eight assists and grabbed four rebounds.
"Teniyah really got us going in the 2nd quarter and played an outstanding game overall leading us with 25 pts., eight rebounds and four steals," said Lanpher. "Kylie was terrific as well with 23 points & seven rebounds. Yanessa controlled the game & recorded eight assists. Cierra had a nice bounce back game with nine pts., four rebounds & four assists. Natalie was terrific off the bench with 12 pts. Also proud of our post play especially with Nafi giving us quality minutes on both ends of the court."
Randolph travels to Virginia Wesleyan this coming Saturday. Game time will be at 2:00 p.m.
