LYNCHBURG, Va. - In a tough battle, the Randolph College Women's Basketball team (6-2, 1-1 ODAC) defeated Averett 66-59 in the come from behind.

"Proud of our resilience and ability to stick together when things weren't going well," said head coach Steve Lanpher. "Our defense rose to the occasion, forcing turnovers and getting stops in that 4th quarter to fuel us on the offensive end."

The first half was a competitive battle between the WildCats and Cougars but a steal from Taniya Jackson led to a fastbreak layup for Kylie Stark. The Cougars soon got on the board from a free throw shot from DaiShaundria Giggetts. Both teams went back-and-forth on scoring keeping the game close. With 4:00 minutes remaining in the first half, the Cougars went on a 5-0 run to put them ahead, however, Stark responded by hitting a three-pointer but Cougars' Jaa Brown came back with the layup to put the score at 10-6 in favor of Averett. To close out the quarter, Averett added two more points, but a layup from Stark and three-pointer from Maddie Pabon put the WildCats within one point as the time ran out. With Averett leading by one, both teams were fighting for the lead trading points back-and-forth to start the second half. It wasn't until around 7:00 minutes in, the Cougars went on a 12-8 run to lead 32-23 with 3:00 minutes remaining. The WildCats were able to rally a few more points to narrow the score to 32-26 as time expired in the half.

"We went to a smaller lineup and I thought we got more aggressive, and offensively they had trouble defending us," said Lanpher.

"In the 2nd half we did a nice job forcing turnovers into points," said Lanpher. "We controlled the tempo and did a nice job taking care of the ball. Teniyah moved to the center spot and really owned the boards in the 4th quarter."

In the second half, Averett opened with two three-pointers from Brown and Emma Jones to extend their lead by 12, 38-26. The WildCats struggled offensively with turnovers and missed shots, which led to Averett's biggest lead of the night, 42-26. However, the WildCats were not backing down, and went on a 10-3 run to close the gap 45-36 with a three pointer from Imani Hardin, free throws from Teniyah Crenshaw-Patterson and a layup and three-pointer from Renee Clines. Much like the first half, both teams traded shots back-and-forth, but consistent shooting from Clines who hit three 3-pointers in the latter part of the half helped the WildCats keep the Cougars close and only down by five. Out of the quarter break, Clines hit a clutch three-pointer, for a two-point deficit to the Cougars and then a fastbreak layup off a steal from Crenshaw-Patterson to Clines to tie the game. From there it was Randolph's game, holding the Averett to eight points in the fourth quarter while Randolph added 20 to their total to close out the game.

Randolph shot 35.5% overall from the field and 36.7% from behind the arc. The WildCats did well from the free throw line making 11-20 attempts (55.0%). Averett was 43.1% from the field and 33.3% from the three-point line. The Cougars led in the rebounding category 40-35. Randolph led with 29 points off turnovers with the bench contributing 28 points.

"Renee came off the bench on fire from three and we needed every one of them," said Lanpher. "Great to see her have this type of game. Hopefully it is just the beginning of great things for her."

"I thought Taniya bounced back after a tough first half to quarterback us in that 4th quarter while hitting two big 3's," said Lanpher.

The WildCats were led by Clines on offense as she had 20 points for a career-high, shooting 8-13 from the field and 4-6 from behind the arc for a come from behind win. Stark had 16 points shooting 5-17 from the field, recording six rebounds, six steals, and five assists. Crenshaw-Patterson had 10 boards, three defensively, and added six points. Jackson and Pabon added seven points each for the WildCats.

"We'll enjoy this tonight and get back to work tomorrow as we prepare to go on the road Saturday at Shenandoah," said Lanpher.

The 'Cats are on the road at Shenandoah University, Saturday, for a 2 p.m. tip-off.