SALEM, Va. – Bridgewater College pushed Randolph-Macon to the limit Thursday night before the No. 2 seeded Yellow Jackets escaped with a 96-91 victory in the quarterfinals of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament played at the Salem Civic Center.
The Eagles matched Macon's high-octane offense point-for-point in the early going. The Yellow Jackets led 17-14 after a layup by Hannah Livermon, but the Eagles hit the No. 2 seed with an 11-3 run to take a five-point lead midway through the first half. Bridgewater's Holly Morgan tied the score with a 3-pointer, but Livermon answered from beyond the arc for a 20-17 Macon lead. Shelley scored the next four points and Heather Cantrell knocked down a 12-footer to put the Eagles on top 25-20 with 8:10 left in the opening half.
Randolph-Macon trimmed the margin to one before another Morgan 3-pointer put the Eagles on top 28-24. A 3-pointer by Sarah Parsons ignited a 7-0 spurt that gave the Yellow Jackets a 31-28 lead with 5:05 remaining.
Three points from Oshene Kelly tied the score before a 3-pointer by Taylor Huber put the Jackets back out front by three. The Yellow Jackets increased the margin to seven before the Eagles closed the half with a 6-0 flurry Burkholder knocked down a jumper and Shelley added a 15-footer with 58 seconds left. Kelly dropped in a short jumper with 37 left in the half to send the Eagles to the break, trailing by just one point 38-37.
Randolph-Macon opened the second half with a 13-4 run and that spurt forced the Eagles to play catch-up the rest of the game/
Down by 10 points, 51-41, the Eagles responded a 9-3 run to pull to win four. Two buckets by Morgan cut the deficit to six before Sarah Parsons connected from long distance to put the Jackets up 54-45. Shelly scored on a 15-footer and Jessi Strom hit from beyond the arc to make it a four-point game, 54-50, with 11:57 left to play.
Randolph-Macon kept the pressure on and a 10-2 run gave the Yellow Jackets their biggest lead of the second half, 64-52, with 9:15 left on the game clock.
Bridgewater served notice it would not go down quietly. The Eagles pecked away at the deficit and a 3-pointer by Morgan sliced the margin to five, 67-62, with seven minutes left.
The Jackets maintained its lead, but the Eagles inched closer when Burkholder hit a 3-pointer to make the score 71-67 with five minutes left.
Randolph-Macon then delivered what appeared to be the knockout punch with a 10-2 run that matched its biggest lead of the game. Marisha Berry hit a pair of buckets and Huber added a layup to push the margin to double digits. A layup by Parsons gave the Yellow Jackets a 12-point lead before Morgan snapped the Eagles drought with a jumper. Two foul shots by Khajae Hester once again put the lead at 12 points, 81-69, with just 2:29 remaining.
The Eagles may have been down, but they were not out.
A three-point play by Burkholder whittled the deficit back to single digit. After Hester made 1-of-2 foul shots, Shelley knocked down a jumper to pull the Eagles to within eight, 82-74. A layup by Livermon pushed Macon's lead back to 10, but a 3-pointer by Strom and a layup by Burkholder cut the lead in half as the Eagles were back to within five, 84-79, with 1:27 left to play.
Two free throws by Parsons were offset by a layup from Kelly, keeping the Macon lead at five. Hester made 1-of-2 at the line, but Shelley countered with two free throws, trimming the margin to four, 87-83 with 55 seconds to go.
Parsons made 3-of-4 at the foul line, but the Eagles refused to fold as Strom connected from long range to once again make it a four-point game, 90-86, with 27 seconds left.
Huber hit two foul shots before Morgan knocked down a long 3-pointer and suddenly it was a one possession game, 92-89, with just 19 seconds left.
The Eagles were forced to foul and Huber sank two clutch foul shots for a 95-89 lead with 17 ticks remaining. Macon fouled Shelley on a drive to the bucket and the senior calmly made both free throws to keep the Eagles within one possession, 94-91.
Huber continued to be true from the foul line as she made two more free throws with 12 seconds left to put the final touches on Macon's hard-fought 96-91 victory.
Bridgewater placed four players in double figures, including three with at least 20 points. Morgan, playing her final game for the Eagles, led the way with a career-high 24 points. Morgan was 9-of-21 from the floor, including 6-of-12 from 3-point range. Burkholder and Shelley each finished the contest with 20 points. Burkholder also added five steals, Shelley, also player her final game in a Bridgewater uniform, matched Morgan with a team-high four assists. Kelly scored a career-high 14 points and led the Eagles on the boards with eight rebounds.
The Eagles' 91 points was a season high and their 10 made 3-pointers was just one off the team's high mark of the season.
The Yellow Jackets big three – Huber, Parsons and Katie Anderson – did not disappoint as the trio combined for 67 points. Huber led the way with 24 points with Parsons next with 22 and Anderson closed behind with 21. Anderson had a huge game on the glass as her 14 boards led the Yellow Jackets to a 41-37 rebounding advantage.
Both teams shot the ball extremely well with the Eagles making 34-of-71 shots for 47.9 percent while Macon made 29-of-62 attempts for 46.8 percent. Bridgewater held the edge from 3-point range as the Eagles connected on 10-of-19 from long beyond the arc. The Eagles defense limited Randolph-Macon to just six made 3-pointers.
Randolph-Macon won the game from the foul line where they attempted twice as many free throws. The Yellow Jackets made 32-of-42 foul shots while the Eagles connected on 13-of-21 from the line.
Bridgewater ends its 2013-14 campaign with a 9-17 overall record. Randolph-Macon, now 21-5, advances to the semifinals Saturday afternoon.