LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph women's basketball team hosted second-place Roanoke at Giles Gymnasium on Monday evening. The WildCats hung with the Maroons for three quarters but Roanoke broke the game open with a big fourth quarter on their way to a 65-47 victory.
The WildCats drop to 13-5 overall and 8-4 in ODAC play. The Maroons improve to 14-2 and remain undefeated in the conference at 10-0.
Roanoke got out to a 12-3 lead in the first quarter. Randolph cut the score to 13-10 on a 7-1 run with 2:19 remaining in the period. The Maroons scored on a pair of layups to take a 17-10 lead.
The Maroon lead was eight points, 21-13, with 8:37 showing on the clock in the second quarter. A 7-0 'Cats run closed the home team deficit to a point at 21-20 with 3:43 remaining. RC led 34-26 at halftime.
Randolph started the third quarter with layups by Simone Brown (Norfolk, Va./Lake Taylor) and Cierra Cook (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) to make it 34-30. The WildCat defense kept the Marrons off balance as they forced four missed shots in the first five minutes of play. The WildCats still trailed by four points, 38-34, with 4:27 remaining in the quarter. Roanoke, however, ended the quarter on a 12-2 run to lead 48-36.
The Maroons broke the game open with an 11-0 run to start the fourth quarter to take their biggest lead of the night at 59-36. Randolph could not rally to get back into the game as RC led comfortably for the remainder of the quarter.
"I really liked our teamwork and intensity tonight," said head coach Steve Lanpher after the game. "I thought we had too many turnovers and just didn't knock down enough shots to come away with a victory. I thought we made a great run to cut it to five with 20 seconds to go in the first half but gave up a three at the buzzer. That was a huge momentum swing."
Randolph shot 18-of-57 (31.6%) from the floor and 5-of-18 (27.8%) from behind the three-point arc. Roanoke was 24-of-54 (44.4%) overall and 4-of-9 in three-point shot attempts. The WildCats did control the rebounding battle 39-33.
"Defensively, we were a little inconsistent and fouled too much late in the shot clock," noted Lanpher. "Overall, we outworked them on the glass but I thought we didn't capitalize enough off our offensive rebounds. I love our fight and togetherness we just need to continue to work and improve on shot quality and ball security. Defensively, we need to contain and contest more consistently.
Kylie Stark (Lynchburg, Va./Brookville) led the Wildcats with 13 points while also pulling down six rebounds, dishing out three assists, and coming away with three steals. Cook added nine points and had four assists. Cameron O'Neil (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds. Brown finished with seven points and seven rebounds. Yanessa Cabrera (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson) had a team-high six assists to go with six points, two rebounds, and one steal.
Randolph hosts Washington and Lee this Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. The WildCats look to avenge a 63-48 defeat to the Generals back on January 19 in Lexington.
