FERRUM, Va.- The Randolph women's basketball team returned to the hardwood for the first time in 2022 as the WildCats traveled to Ferrum on Wednesday evening for a mid-week conference matchup. The 'Cats withstood a late Panther run to come away with a 58-55 victory.
Randolph improves to 9-2 overall and 4-1 in the ODAC standings. Ferrum drops to 4-8 overall and 2-3 in the conference.
It was a tight game in the first quarter as Randolph took a 9-8 lead with 4:21 remaining in the period. A layup by Ferrum's Alexis Miller put the home team ahead 10-9 with 2:44 left in the quarter. That would be the last basket scored by either team as Randolph would go 0-for-4 and Ferrum 0-for-1 from the field.
Randolph held a late lead in the second quarter, 23-21, following a three-point basket by Teniyah Crenshaw-Patterson (Newport News, Va./Heritage) with 2:49 left until halftime. A jumper by Ferrum's Cameron Hawkins with under two minutes left tied the game up at 23-23. Kayla Cabiness' layup with less than a minute remaining gave Ferrum a 25-23 lead at the break.
In the third quarter, Randolph went on a 12-3 run to start, ending with back-to-back threes by Natalie Clark (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) and Cameron O'Neil (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) to take the biggest lead of the evening, 35-28, with 3:40 showing on the clock. The Panthers closed to within two points, 35-33, with 1:26 remaining but layups by Crenshaw-Patterson and Yanessa Cabrera (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson) lifted the WildCats to a 39-33 lead heading into the final quarter of play.
Randolph continued to add to its lead in the fourth quarter as consecutive layups by Cabrera put the WildCats on top 43-33. The WildCat lead was nine points, 53-44, with 2:43 remaining and the game seemed in hand for Randolph. Ferrum, however, went on an 11-2 run spanning 1:44 of game time to tie the contest up at 55-all with 38 seconds remaining. Crenshaw-Patterson came through for Randolph as she made three of four free throw attempts to secure the victory for the WildCats.
There was a total of 13 lead changes and six ties. In overall shooting percentage, the teams were less than a percent apart. Randolph was 24-of-57 (42.1%) from the floor while Ferrum was 21-of-49 (42.9%). Both teams attempted 11 free throw shots with the Panthers making eight and the WildCats four. Both schools had 34 rebounds. Randolph outscored Ferrum 16-9 in points off turnovers, 26-18 in points in the paint, and 14-2 in bench points.
"So proud of our team tonight," said head coach Steve Lanpher after the game. "We came in missing three starters and we never used that as an excuse. Not the prettiest of wins but a well-deserved, hard fought win for sure."
Crenshaw-Patterson led the 'Cats with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting. She also led the team in rebounds with seven. Cabrera finished with 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go with four assists and three steals. O'Neil added nine points. Alexis Kiser (Floyd, Va./Floyd County) scored eight points off the bench and also came away with six rebounds.
"I thought the difference in the game was our offensive execution especially in the second half," noted Lanpher. "We got quality shots and had only 11 turnovers in the game. Down the stretch we made some mistakes but we stuck together and found a way."
The WildCats' scheduled game with Roanoke on Saturday has been postponed with no determined rescheduled date. . Randolph's next game is next Wednesday night at home against Shenandoah. Game time will be at 7:00 p.m.
