LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph women's basketball team hosted Averett in an ODAC game on Wednesday evening at Giles Gymnasium. The WildCats trailed by nine points in the fourth quarter but rallied to defeat the Cougars 67-65.
Randolph improves its overall record to 10-6 marking the third straight season that the WildCats have won double digit games. Randolph's ODAC record is now 4-6.
The 'Cats started off the first quarter scoring eight straight points to lead 8-0. The Cougars cut Randolph's lead down to three points, 12-9, with 1:06 remaining in the period. Randolph led 15-11 at the end of the quarter.
A 6-0 run to start the second quarter gave Averett a 17-15 lead with just under nine minutes left in the period. The WildCats countered with a 17-7 run to takes its biggest of the night, 33-24, with 2:34 remaining in the quarter. Their lead would stand at eight points, 35-27, at halftime.
An 18-6 run by the Cougars to start the third quarter staked them out to a 45-42 lead with 3:41 showing on the game clock. It was a two-point AU advantage, 50-48, going into the final quarter of play.
A 7-0 Averett run gave the visitors a 57-48 lead at the 7:21 mark of the fourth quarter. Randolph chipped away at its deficit and eventually came back to take a 62-61 lead with 2:08 remaining. The Cougars made a pair of free throws at 1:27 to go up 64-62. Kylie Stark (Lynchburg, Va./Brookville) made two free throws to knot the game at 64-all with 1:24 left.
Averett went up 65-64 with 38 ticks left. Teniyah Crenshaw-Patterson (Newport News, Va./Heritage) sank a jumper with 30 seconds left to play to give the WildCats a 66-65 lead. Jessica Jennings (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) made one of two free throws with 11 seconds to play. Cydney Bundy (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Institute) came away with a steal but missed the ensuing layup. Averett came down with the rebound but missed a potential game tying shot as the WildCats hung on for the victory.
"Really proud of our resilience and fight tonight," said head coach Steve Lanpher. "Down nine with seven minutes to go we went smaller and switched our defense to man to man and were able to get stops and gain crucial momentum down the stretch. This allowed us to attack the basket more and allowed us to come away with the victory. We struggled defensively finishing plays by not rebounding or fouling too much for most of the game but our poise and discipline down the stretch were crucial."
Randolph shot 22-of-61 (36.1%) on the night and were 6-of-27 (22.2%) from behind the three-point arc. Averett was also 22-of-61 from the floor and 8-of-26 (30.8%) in three-point attempts.
Stark and Jennings both finished with 17 points. Jennings pulled down seven rebounds. Stark was a perfect 12-of-12 from the free throw line. Caiyiah Smith (Manassas, Va./Virginia Academy) finished with 10 points. Crenshaw-Patterson scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds.
"Kylie came up huge and what CJ Bundy gave us a tremendous boost off the bench," said Lanpher. "Cai Smith continues to grow and blossom and really provided great defensive pressure with 4 steals. Jasmin and Jaidyn also gave us crucial & positive contributions off the bench."
Randolph hosts Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday in its Play 4 Kay Game. Game time will be at 2:00 p.m.
