DANVILLE, Va.- The Randolph women's basketball team traveled to Averett to face the Cougars on Saturday afternoon. The WildCats fell behind early in the first quarter but recovered to overtake Averett and win by the score of 59-34.
Randolph improves its overall record to 12-7 and 6-7 in ODAC play. AU drops to 4-16 overall and 2-11 in the conference.
With her fifth point of the game with 1:39 remaining in the first quarter, Kylie Stark (Lynchburg, Va./Brookville) reached 1,000 career points. She becomes the 11th player in the history of the Randolph women's basketball program to do so and the first to achieve it in her fourth season as a WildCat since Abigail Bullins in 2016.
The WildCats trailed 6-0 with 7:32 remaining in the first quarter. A 19-4 run by the 'Cats put them on top 19-10 at the conclusion of the period. Averett came back to close to within five points, 21-16, with 6:34 left in the second quarter. Randolph would end up more than doubling its lead as it went ahead 33-21 at halftime.
The WildCats dominated the third quarter as they outscored the Cougars 18-2. Randolph shot 8-of-14 (57.14%) during the period while AU was just 1-of-8 (12.5%). The 'Cats would go on to lead by as much as 28 points as they dominated the Cougars.
"Nice road win today!" said head coach Steve Lanpher. "I thought defensively we followed the game plan well. We contained their drivers and battled on the boards. I really thought our defensive full court pressure allowed us to create turnovers and get easy buckets. I liked our pace on offense and I thought we did a nice job moving the basketball."
Randolph finished the game going 22-of-58 (37.9%) overall but just 2-of-18 (11.1%) from behind the third-point arc. Averett ended up leading in rebounds 41-38.
The WildCats led in points of turnovers 26-13 and in second chance points 16-6. The 'Cats also led in the paint 34-18.
Stark finished with 12 points to go with five rebounds and five steals. Jessica Jennings (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) also scored 12 points. Brooklyn Finnerty (Lynchburg, Va./Timberlake) had a career-high 11 points and grabbed five rebounds.
"Kylie and Jess did a nice job executing and scoring out of our options and Brooklyn was great off the bench with her physical presence on both ends," said Lanpher.
Randolph returns home to host Shenandoah on Wednesday night. Game time will be at 7:00 p.m.
