LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph women's basketball team hosted its first game of 2023 on Saturday afternoon as they took on Virginia Wesleyan. The WildCats got out to a big lead in the first quarter as they went on to win 67-48.
Randolph's record improves to 13-2 overall and 7-1 in the ODAC and runs its winning streak to 11 games. The Marlins fall to 5-9 and 1-6 in the conference.
The game was scoreless for the first two and half minutes of the first quarter until Cameron O'Neil (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) hit a three-point basket at 7:31. From there, the WildCats dominated the period as they went ahead 17-5. The second quarter was a little more closely contested as Randolph outscored Virginia Wesleyan 14-13 but the WIldCats still had a double-digit lead at halftime, 31-18.
Two free throws for VWU to begin the second half closed the Marlin deficit to 11 points, 31-20. That would as close as VWU would get as Randolph used a 19-8 run to lead 50-27 with 4:17 remaining in the period. The Marlins were able to end the quarter on a 10-1 run to trail 51-37. In the final quarter, the WildCats outscored the Marlins 16-11. The 'Cats shot 50% (8-of-16 and 5-of-10) from the floor in the third and fourth periods.
Overall, Randolph shot 26-of-57 (45.6%) from the field and was 4-of-17 from behind the three-point arc. The WildCats were 11-of-15 (73%) from the charity stripe. Virginia Wesleyan was 16-of-55 (29.1%) overall and just 2-of-8 (25%) in three-point attempts.
The WIldCats outscored the Marlins 25-12 in points off of turnovers and 38-24 in points in the paint. Virginia Wesleyan led the rebounding battle 41-33.
"I thought we came out with the appropriate energy and effort," said head coach Steve Lanpher. "Our defensive pressure allowed us to force some early turnovers which allowed us to get some transition baskets."
Jessica Jennings (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) led Randolph and all scorers with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. O'Neil added 13 points, five rebounds, and three steals. Teniyah Crenshaw-Patterson (Newport News, Va./Heritage) chipped in 10 points, six rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Kylie Stark (Lynchburg, Va./Brookville) finished with nine points, four steals, and two rebounds.
"Strong all-around game from Cameron and Jess was great again off the bench providing defensive pressure and really did a nice job attacking the paint as she led us in scoring with 14," noted Lanpher. "I thought Abbie played her best game to date scoring eight points with three rebounds. Teniyah also supplied us with an offensive sparking scoring 10 pts & leading us in rebounding."
Randolph will next host Averett this coming Wednesday night. Game time is at 5:00 p.m.