LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph women's basketball team hosted Ferrum in the first game of 2024 on Wednesday night at Giles Gymnasium. The WildCats defeated the Panthers 50-30.

The victory lifts Randolph's overall record to 9-3 and evens its ODAC record at 3-3. Ferrum drops 6-7 overall and 3-3 in the conference.

"Good conference win to start 2024!" said head coach Steven Lanpher. "Defensively, we did a good job overall with our coverages and really made it tough on them."

The Panthers led early in the first quarter 7-4 with 5:28 left on the clock. Six straight points by the WildCats put them out in front 10-7. Ferrum scored on a pair of layups to lead 11-10 at the conclusion of the quarter. The WildCats would go on to outscore the Panthers 12-4 in the second quarter to lead 22-15 at halftime.

In the second half, Randolph's 8-1 run put it on top 30-16 with just over five minutes to play in the third quarter. The WildCats were ahead 33-20 with 3:10 remaining until the Panthers cut their deficit to 10 points at the end of the quarter.

"I thought the second quarter into the third we really contained them and began moving the basketball well and converting those opportunities," noted Lanpher. "Jess really quarterbacked us well with 10 points and six assists. Kylie played well despite her foul trouble."

Ferrum made it a two-possession game, 34-28, with 8:43 left in the fourth quarter. The Panther offense then went cold as the WildCats were able to take advantage of the Ferrum lapse. Randolph went on a 12-0 run to pull away and lead 46-28. Ferrum finally scored on a layup to break its over seven-minute scoreless streak but the game was already in hand as the WildCats were already comfortably ahead.

Randolph shot 17-of-53 (32.1%) overall on the night but just 2-of-15 (13.3%) in three-point attempts. The Panthers edged out the WildCats in rebounds 36-35. Randolph turned 27 Ferrum turnovers into 24 points. The 'Cats outscored the Panthers 12-4 in second chance points and 18-8 in the paint.

Kylie Stark (Lynchburg, Va./Brookvile) led Randolph with 11 points to go with four rebounds, four steals, and two assists. Jessica Jennings (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) added 10 points, six assists, and three steals. Caiyah Smith (Manassas, Va./Virginia Academy) finished with seven points, four rebounds, one block, and one steal. Jasmin Williams (Fredericksburg, Va./Riverbend) also had seven points and grabbed four rebounds. Brooklyn Finnerty (Lynchburg, Va./Timberlake) led in rebounds with six.

"Jas was tremendous spark off the bench tonight on both ends of the floor defending and rebounding," said Lanpher. "I thought although we struggled shooting the ball at times, we did a great job with ball security with only 13 turnovers."

Randolph will play Eastern Mennonite on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. The game was moved up from Saturday afternoon in anticipation of this weekend's winter storm.