For Immediate Release – 12/6/12 - #154

WildCat Women Breeze Past Mary Baldwin In Record Breaking Performance Thursday

                STAUNTON, VA – The Randolph College women's basketball team notched multiple team and individual records Thursday evening in an 84-28 non-conference win over the Fighting Squirrels of Mary Baldwin College.

                The WildCats margin of victory of 56 is the most in the history of the program, with records going back to the late 1970s. Also, Randolph tied the mark for fewest points allowed in an NCAA game with 28, tying the mark set back in the 1993-94 season against Mary Baldwin. Lastly, the WildCats finished one trifecta short of the record for threes made in a game with 12, and finished one steal short of the school record with 19.

                The 28 three-pointers taken by the WildCats was the second-most in a game at the College, and the 49 points scored in the second half was the second-most posted in a half ever for a WildCat team. The game didn't start out well though for Randolph (3-3), as the hosts scored the game's first four points and held Randolph to only four points over the first five minutes of the game.

                That's when the WildCats offense would come to life and the defense would clamp down. Randolph held Mary Baldwin (0-7) without a field goal for more than 10 minutes of game time in the first half, outscoring the Fighting Squirrels by 25 in the opening period to take a 35-10 lead into the break.

                The WildCats would stay hot from the floor, nailing eight threes in the second half, shooting 60 percent from downtown to roll to the win. First-year guard Abigail Bullins (Asheboro, NC/Asheboro) scored a career and game-high 16 points, hitting four-of-five from three-land in only 14 minutes of action. Emilee Dunton (Forest, VA/Brookville) booked 14 points in 14 minutes, as the WildCats saw all but one player score Thursday.

                First-year guard Nikki Mathis (Evington, VA/Brookville) established her new career high with 11 points, hitting three from deep, and Megan Russell (Pinnacle, NC/West Stokes) had nine points and six rebounds. Guard Bria Carlisle (Chesterfield, VA/Clover Hill) had a nice night, scoring a career-high eight points to go with three boards and four steals, and junior Olivia Johnson (Monroe, VA/Union Academy) registered seven points and a team-leading seven caroms. The 87 points scored for Randolph is the most since the WildCats netted 87 against Hollins University in 2009.

                Randolph finished 31-of-72 (43.1 percent) on the night, shot 43.8 percent from behind the arc, and turned the ball over a season-low 10 times. December has been nice to Randolph thus far, as the WildCats have improved their shooting percentage from 29.3 percent in November to 43.3 percent in two December games. Also, Randolph is now making 46.3 percent of its shots from deep in the current month.

                The WildCats will look for their first three-game winning streak since the final three games of the 2009 season when they head out on the road to battle Shenandoah University Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in Winchester, VA.

--RANDOLPH--