ASHLAND, Va. – The Bridgewater College women's basketball team endured an eight-minute, 25-second scoreless stretch from the field at the end of the first half against the Yellow Jackets of Randolph-Macon before trading scores in the second half en route to a 69-56 loss at Crenshaw Gym.
Bridgewater scored the game's first five points, behind a pair of layups and a free throw from Jessica Mullen (Purcellville, Va./Loudon Valley) to jump out to a 5-0 lead with 17:00 minutes left in the first half.
Randolph-Macon chipped the Eagles lead down to one at a 6-5 tally with 12 and change to play in the first before a Jillian Asay jumper gave the Yellow Jackets the lead.
Both teams traded leads for the next four minutes, before a Yellow Jacket free throw from Molly Brown knotted the game at ten each.
Brown's free throw sparked a 16-0 run for the Yellow Jackets as the Eagles committed seven turnovers and missed six straight shots to allow Randolph-Macon to open up a 25-10 lead with 2:08 to play in the opening frame.
Bridgewater tallied the final three points of the half off of a trio of Mullen free throws to cut the Yellow Jacket lead to 25-13 as both teams headed to the locker room.
During the opening stanza, Randolph-Macon forced 20 Bridgewater miscues which turned into a 17-5 advantage in points off turnovers for the Yellow Jackets.
Bridgewater went the final 8:25 of the first half without a field goal.
At the onset of the second half, the two teams traded scores before a Jordan Burkholder (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) layup opened a 6-0 Eagles run to cut the lead back to single figures at a 31-23 margin with just under 16 minutes to go.
With 14:25 to play, the Eagles chipped the lead to five points off of a Mullen jumper to cut the Randolph-Macon advantage to a 33-28 tally.
Randolph-Macon answered with a pair of threes, sandwiched by a Katelynn Hottinger (Linville, Va./Broadway) layup to extend its lead to nine at a 39-30 gap.
Bridgewater cut the lead to six, with a three point play from Mullen, but a five-point swing from the Yellow Jackets put the Eagles back at a double-digit deficit with 11 minutes remaining in the contest.
The two teams went back to trading scores for the next eight minutes before a Burkholder trey brought the Eagles to within a manageable 60-53 margin with 3:19 to play in the game.
Bridgewater was able to get the lead down to as low as six points down the stretch but a 7-of-8 performance from the Yellow Jackets at the stripe over the final 41 ticks proved to be too much to overcome as the Eagles fell by a 69-56 tally to Randolph-Macon to round out the first half of the ODAC slate.
Mullen was solid from the field, connecting on 6-of-12 shots, while turning in a 9-of-11 performance from the charity stripe to post a game-high 21 points for the Eagles. Burkholder chipped in 17 and six steals before fouling out in the final minute of the game.
On the glass, senior Emileigh Lambert (Charlottesville, Va./Western Albemarle)led the way for the Eagles with nine boards, but the Eagles were outrebounded by a slim 38-36 tally on the day. Lambert also led Bridgewater defensively with a game-high seven steals.
Maggie Roy led a balanced Randolph-Macon scoring attack of four players in double figures with a team-high 12 points.
On the glass, Taylor Wieczorek led the Yellow Jackets with a game-high 11 boards, matching her points total for the game to post a double-double.
Despite a 20-14 advantage in the turnover department after the first 20 minutes, Randolph-Macon committed a paltry 18 turnovers in the second half to lose the turnover battle by a 32-to-30 margin. Randolph-Macon's 18 second-half turnovers turned into a 15-3 advantage in points off turnovers for the Eagles in the second half.
Randolph-Macon outshot Bridgewater by a 44%-to-31% tally. The Yellow Jackets shot a blistering 51.9% in the second half.
Bridgewater, which now sits at 12-3 on the season, is back in action on Tuesday night when its hosts cross-town rival Eastern Mennonite. Action from Nininger Hall is slated for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.