WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.- The Randolph women's basketball team played their first road game of the season on Friday as the WildCats headed down to North Carolina to take on Carolina University. Randolph got out to a big lead in the first quarter and didn't look back as it would win by the score of 63-39.
The 4-0 start for Randolph marks their best record through four games since the 2013-14 season.
"We went on the road and defensively set the tone early," said head coach Steve Lanpher. "We really kept them at bay with our defensive work."
The WildCats led 3-0 before the Bruins registered their first basket of the game. After Randolph opened up a 10-2 lead, Carolina closed the gap to five points at 10-5. Randolph went on a brief 5-1 run in the final 32 seconds of the quarter to lead 15-6.
The WildCat run continued into the second quarter as the 'Cats upped their lead to 12 points, 18-6, with a little under eight minutes to play in the period. The Bruins cut the Randolph advantage to eight points but the WildCats would go on a 10-1 run to close out the quarter and lead 28-11 at halftime. In the last 6:27 minutes of game time in the quarter, the Bruins were held without a field goal going 0-for-9 from the floor.
In the third quarter, Carolina closed to within 15 points of the WildCats but Randolph remained out in front leading by 20 at the end of the period. The 'Cats led by 20+ points for all but 1:14 of the fourth quarter. Randolph took its biggest lead of the night, 52-27, with 4:07 remaining in the game as it cruised to the victory.
On the night, the WildCats shot 22-of-57 (38.6%) from the floor and were 5-of-16 (31.3%) in three-point attempts. Carolina was only 14-of-61 (23%) overall and just 1-of-23 (4.3%) from behind the three-point arc. Randolph led in rebounds 59-39.
They are extremely athletic and I thought we did a nice job of keeping them from penetrating off the dribble and forced them into taking tough outside shots," said Lanpher, "We struggled offensively at times but our defense remained strong. Nice to avenge last year's loss as well."
Jessica Jennings (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) led the way with 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting. She pulled down four rebounds and dished out four assists. Kylie Stark (Lynchburg, Va./Brookville) added 11 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Teniyah Crenshaw-Patterson (Newport News, Va./Heritage) grabbed 10 boards and scored six points. Brooklyn Finnerty (Lynchburg, Va./Timberlake) also scored six points and secured five rebounds in 13 minutes of game time.
"Jess and Kylie really got us going offensively and I thought Brooklyn really came in and gave us some quality minutes on both ends of the floor," said Lanpher. "Our depth continues to wear opponents down and I though it was once again a factor tonight."
Randolph returns to the floor on November 26 as it travels to Shenandoah for ODAC play. Game time from Winchester is at 2:00 p.m.
