HARRISONBURG, Va.- The Randolph women's basketball team played its final Old Dominion Athletic Conference game of the month on Saturday as they traveled to Eastern Mennonite. Three WildCats scored in double digits on the afternoon as Randolph won 59-42.
The victory give the 'Cats an overall record of 8-2 and 5-1 in the ODAC. They are winners of six straight games.
In the game, Yanessa Cabrera dished out seven assists and in the process became the Randolph career leader in assists with 327 currently. She tops the previous record of 325 that was held by Kai Felton (1996-2000).
"We captured a nice road win today against a gritty athletic EMU squad," said head coach Steve Lanpher. "We came out a little sluggish offensively and turned the ball over too much, but our defense made the trip which allowed us to maintain a six point halftime lead. We held them to 14 field goals overall which allowed us to come away with a comfortable win."
It was EMU who led early in the first quarter as it scored the game's first two baskets to go up 4-0. Jump shots by Teniyah Crenshaw-Patterson (Newport News, Va./Heritage) and Cabrera evened the score at 4-4. The Royals led by three points, 9-6, with 5:35 remaining in the first quarter. The WildCats ended the period on a 5-0 run to lead 11-9.
A jump shot by Crenshaw-Patterson less than a minute into the second quarter put Randolph ahead 13-9. EMU would tie the contest up at 13-13 with 7:24 remaining in the period. The WildCats then went on a 12-0 run to take a double-digit lead and go up 25-13 with 3:43 showing on the game clock. The Royals then used a run of their own, 10-2, to end the quarter and only trailed 27-23 at the break.
The 'Cats came out strong in the third period as they started with an 11-0 run to go up 38-23 at the 7:20 mark. The Royals cut the Randolph lead to eight points, 40-32, with 2:42 left in the quarter but the WildCats still led by double digits, 44-33, at the conclusion of the period.
Back-to-back threes by Cameron O'Neil (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) upped the WildCat advantage to 17 points, 50-33, with 7:46 left to play. The Royals could only get as close as 12 points as Randolph stayed comfortably out in front for the remainder of the quarter.
Randolph shot 21-of-52 (40.4%) overall from the floor and 6-of-19 (31.6%) from behind the three-point arc. EMU was 14-of-43 (32.6%) from the floor and 4-of-18 (22.2%) in three-point attempts.
The WildCats nearly doubled up EMU on the boards with a 45-23 advantage. Randolph controlled the paint 18-10, led in second chance points 8-2 and 21-15 in points off turnovers.
Crenshaw-Patterson scored a season-high 17 points and recorded her first double-double of the season as she added 10 rebounds. Kylie Stark (Lynchburg, Va./Brookville) finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, and two assists. O'Neil chipped in 11 points, two rebounds, and two steals. It is her third straight game with 11 points scored. Besides her seven assists, Cabrera contributed six rebounds, four points, and one steal.
"I thought in the second half we executed much better and we limited our fouls thus holding them to 19 total points, noted Lanpher. "Teniyah played really well leading us in both scoring and rebounding. Cam sparked us offensively and hit some big shots which helped us stretch out our lead. We also attacked the glass really well with Tee(10), Kylie (7) Abbie & Yanessa (6)."
Randolph hosts its final home game of December next Saturday against Mid-Atlantic Christian. Game time is at 2:00 p.m.