GREENSBORO, N.C.- The Randolph women's basketball team headed to North Carolina on Saturday to take on Guilford. The WildCats recovered from an early double-digit deficit but fell short in the end as the Quakers won 75-63.

The WildCats' overall record is now 16-4 overall and 10-3 in the conference. Guilford improves to 17-3 and 10-3 in the ODAC.

Guilford led 25-10 at the end of the first quarter. In the second period, Randolph started to chip away at its deficit as it went on a 10-1 run to close to seven points, 27-20, with just a tick over eight minutes to play in the stanza. After the Quakers upped their lead to 10 points, the 'Cats scored six straight points to get to within four with five minutes left. Randolph got to within one possession with 45 seconds showing on the clock but Guilford's Courtney McMillian hit a three with 17 seconds left to put GC ahead 40-35 at halftime.

"The first quarter we were very sloppy with the ball and turned it over nine times," said head coach Steve Lanpher.  "Those turnovers allowed Guilford to get some easy baskets and forced us to spend too much time on the defensive end.  I was proud of how we responded in the 2nd quarter cutting a 15-point lead to five."

The third quarter saw the Quakers put their lead back into double digits. After a three by Cameron O'Neil (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) with 21 seconds left in the period, Randolph cut to within 11 points. Guilford scored six points in a row to start the fourth quarter and its advantage grew to 17 points with just under seven minutes left in regulation. The WildCats could only close to 12 as GC stayed out in front for the remainder of the period.

"The second half I thought we executed much better and had a lot of open looks but couldn't capitalize on the shots," noted Lanpher.  "Once our shots weren't falling, I thought our defense suffered and allowed Guilford to come away with the victory."
 
Randolph shot 21-of-61 (34.4%) from the field and 5-of-22 (22.7) from beyond the three-point arc. On the other side, the Quakers were 27-of-56 (48.2%) overall and 5-of-13 (38.5) in three-point attempts.

The WildCats did have the advantage in rebounds 40-34.

Yanessa Cabrera (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson) led the team with 11 points to go with four rebounds. Teniyah Crenshaw-Patterson (Newport News, Va./Heritage) had a double-double effort of 10 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Jessica Jennings (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) finished with 10 points.

"We knew going in that this was going to be a tall task on the road," said Lanpher.  "Guilford is playing extremely well right now. We've got to come together and improve our offensive execution.  I do know the last time we lost two in a row we ripped off 14 straight so hopefully we will repeat that recipe."
 
The WildCats return home to host cross-city rival Lynchburg on Wednesday at Giles Gymnasium. Game time will be at 5:00 p.m.