Bridgewater Stops Randolph College, 76-67

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LYNCHBURG, Va. – Bridgewater College evened its record at 2-2 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference play with a 76-67 victory Saturday afternoon over Randolph College in women's basketball action.

The win was the second straight for the Eagles, now 4-8 overall. Randolph drops to 8-5 overall and 2-2 in the ODAC.

Four of Bridgewater's five starters reached double figures with Holly Morgan leading the way with 18 points. Jessi Strom and Heather Cantrell each scored 16 and Cassidy Burkholder added 14. Molly Shelley, the Eagles fifth starter, finished with eight.

Cantrell posted a double-double with 12 rebounds as the Eagles battled the WildCats to a virtual standoff on the boards as Randolph held a 43-42 edge.

Jensen Hoover led the WildCats with a game-high 20 points to go along with nine rebounds. Brie Holdren and Korin Harris each added 10 points.

The Eagles trailed just once when Randolph's Chelsea Tyler converted a three-point play to put the WildCats on top 13-12 with 12:20 left in the first half.

The scored the next eight points to take the lead for good. Oshene Kelly scored after an offensive rebound to put the Eagles back on top and layup by Morgan made the score 16-13. Burkholder and Cantrell added hoops, giving the Eagles a 20-13 lead with 9:42 on the first-half clock.

A free throw by Cantrell gave Bridgewater its biggest lead of the half, 34-25, before a 3-pointer by Randolph's Holden cut the deficit to six with 4:24 left in the half.

The teams traded points the rest of the half with a free throw by Burkholder giving the Eagles a 38-30 lead at the break.

Strom opened the second half with a 3-pointer to push the lead to 11. Randolph's Jensen Hoover sandwiched  a pair of buckets around a layup by Cantrell, putting the Eagles lead at nine, 43-34.

Two foul shots by Shelley and a layup by Cantrell gave Bridgewater its biggest lead of the game, 47-34, with 16:22 to go.

The WildCats withstood the early second-half blow from the Eagles and slowly worked their way back into the game.

Randolph pulled to within four, 56-52, on a layup by Hoover with 7:33 left, but Strom responded with a jumper to make it a six-point game.

A layup by Korin Harris again pulled the WildCats to within four, but the Eagles answered with an 8-0 run to regain control. Burkholder hit two foul shots and Strom knocked down a 3-pointer to push the lead to nine. After the teams traded empty possessions, Morgan drained a 3-pointer and the Eagles led 66-54 with just 4:11 remaining.

Randolph would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way as Bridgewater made 10-of-12 free throws down the stretch to put the finishing touches on the 79-67 victory.