LYNCHBURG, Va.- It had been 10 days since the Randolph women's basketball team took the floor as postponements pushed a couple games back. The WildCats hosted Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon on Senior Day. The 'Cats did not show any rust from their extended layoff as they defeated the Marlins 84-49.
Randolph improves to 15-5 overall and 10-4 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The Marlins drop to 3-20 and 0-16 in the conference. The victory for the WildCats makes a season sweep of Virginia Wesleyan for the first time in program history.
Randolph's lead was 5-4 with under seven minutes remaining in the first quarter. A 16-4 WildCat run gave the 'Cats a 21-8 lead with 2:18 remaining in the period. A 7-2 run to close out the quarter put Randolph ahead 28-10.
The WildCat lead grew in the second period as they led 34-12 at 7:38. Randolph took its biggest lead of the day, 49-22, with five seconds remaining until halftime. The WildCats were in firm control of the game despite the Marlins outscoring them 15-13 in the fourth quarter.
"I was worried coming in because of our 10 day layoff but we came out with great energy and intensity in the first quarter," said head coach Steve Lanpher. "We forced early turnovers that led to easy buckets. Offensively our ball and player movement was very good allowing us to get uncontested shots both in transition and in the half court. We attacked and really put Va. Wes in difficult situations. Our defensive intensity and unselfish play was the difference today."
Randolph was 29-of-68 (42.6%) in overall shooting and 8-of-19 (42.1%) from beyond the three-point arc. The 42.1% is the best to date this season. The WildCats outscored the Marlins 20-9 in points off turnovers, 17-3 in second chance points, and 26-9 in second chance points. The 10 WildCat turnovers were the second-lowest of the season. Randolph controlled the boards 48-33.
Ciera Cook (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) scored a season-high 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting to lead the WildCats. Teniyah-Crenshaw Patterson (Newport News, Va./Heritage) added 15 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Kylie Stark (Lynchburg, Va./Brookville) chipped in 11 points, six rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Alana Melendez (West Haverstraw, NY/North Rockland) scored 10 points to go with two rebounds two assists and two steals. Yanessa Cabrera (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson) tallied six points and matched her season high with eight assists.
"Yanessa was special again as she facilitated well with eight assists and no turnovers" noted Lanpher. "Cierra got hot offensively from behind the arc and led us with 24. Teniyah rebounded extremely well & recorded another double-double. Kylie filled the stat sheet once again as she played another good all-around game scoring 11, with 6 rebounds, 5 assists & 2 steals. Our depth & bench play continues to be a strength. Once again we got quality minutes especially from Simone, Nadia and Alana."
The team recognized seniors Cook and Cabrera prior to the game.
Next up for Randolph is Ferrum this coming Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at Giles Gymnasium. It is the team's Play 4 Kay game.