HARRISONBURG, Va.- The Randolph women's basketball team faced Eastern Mennonite for the second time this season at the Royals' Yoder Arena on Saturday afternoon. The WildCats battled back from an earlier deficit to come out with 58-54 victory.
Randolph's overall record improves to 13-4 and 8-3 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The 13 wins ties a program record that was achieved twice with the most recent occurrence in the 2016-17 season. The eight conference win ties the team record that was done in the1997-98 season.
"Another tough gritty performance on the road, so proud of this team!" said head coach Steven Lanpher. "We struggled in the first half with ball security and missed a ton of easy shots, however our defense once again anchored us until we found some offensive rhythm in the third quarter."
The WildCats led 14-10 at the end of the first quarter. It was a 16-10 Randolph lead early in the second quarter after a layup by Yanessa Cabrera (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson) as the 'Cats looked to add their lead. The Royals fought back as they cut the deficit to a point, 16-15, with 6:35 on the clock. The WildCats restored their lead back to six points, 21-15, with 3:49 remaining. Eastern Mennonite then embarked on a 12-1 run to close out the quarter and wrestle the lead away from the WildCats to go up 26-22 at halftime. Randolph had its poorest shooting performance of all four quarters as it was 3-of-16 (18.7%) from the field.
EMU added to its lead in the third quarter as it went ahead 31-24 at 8:18. Randolph cut it down to 31-29 but the Royals went out in front by eight points, 37-29, with 5:13 remaining. Eastern Mennonite still had an eight-point advantage with 3:22 showing on the clock. The WildCat offense showed life in the final 3:06 as it went on a 9-0 run to close out the period and take its first lead since late in the second quarter, 42-41.
The fourth quarter saw the lead exchange hands four times in less than six minutes of game time. The WildCats trailed 47-44 with under five minute left but a jumper and three-point basket by Teniyah Crenshaw-Patterson (Newport News, Va./Heritage) gave the 'Cats a 49-47 advantage with 4:09 left. EMU tied at 49-all but Crenshaw-Patterson answered for Randolph with another three-point bucket with exactly three minutes remaining to give the WIldCats a 52-49 lead. EMU grabbed the lead back leading 54-52 with 2:07 to play in regulation. A jump shot from Cameron O'Neil (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) tied the game at 54-54 and after O'Neil came up with a steal for the 'Cats, Cabrera scored on a jumper with 42 seconds left to make the score 56-54 win Randolph's favor.
A foul by O'Neil put the Royals on the free throw line for two but missed both. Needing to get the ball back, EMU was forced to foul which it did and sent Kylie Stark (Lynchburg, Va./Brookville) to the charity stripe. She made the first of two attempts to give the WildCats a 57-54 lead with 10 seconds left. Looking to possibly tie the game, EMU ended up turning the ball over to Randolph. Stark went back to the charity stripe to ice the game for the WildCats. She made her second attempt and EMU heaved a desperation three at the buzzer as time expired that was off the mark.
Randolph shot 8-of-15 (53.3%) in the third quarter and 6-of-10 (60%) in the fourth quarter. Overall, the team was 23-of-56 from the floor. The defense forced 22 EMU turnovers which it turned into 20 points compared to the 12 points off 21 Randolph turnovers for Eastern Mennonite. The rebounding battle went to the WildCats 37-32.
Crenshaw-Patterson scored 22 points to lead the WildCats on 9-of-17 shooting. She picked up four rebounds and two steals. Stark added 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Cierra Cook (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) scored nine points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out four assists. Cabrera tallied six points, six assists, and three steals. O'Neil finished with two points but came away with five steals and three rebounds. Simone Brown (Norfolk, Va./Lake Taylor) had a team-high eight rebounds.
Teniyah stepped up big once again leading us in scoring with 22 points, noted Lanpher. "Kylie fought off early foul trouble and really settled us down by slicing up their zone with great passes and contributing 12 pts. Cam struggled shooting ball but stepped up defensively with five steals & two charges. Simone came off the bench and supplied us with a defensive presence inside while collecting eight rebounds in 12 minutes. First years Alana & Kendra provided solid play off the bench as well."
Randolph has a short turnaround as it hosts Roanoke this coming Monday in a rescheduled game from January 8. Game time from Giles Gymnasium will be at 7:00 p.m.
