For Immediate Release – 11/16/16 - #122
'Cats Start New Season with Win over SVU

LYNCHBURG, VA – The Randolph College women's basketball team opened up its 2016-2017 season in style on Wednesday night, taking down Southern Virginia University 71-63 in a nonconference tilt.  The win was the first on the Randolph sidelines for new Head Coach Andrea Kendall.

The WildCats came out showing a great defensive intensity.  The Knights scored the opening basket just 11 seconds in, but it would be five more minutes until the visitors would tally again.  In between, the 'Cats put 12-straight points on the board to earn a double-digit lead.  Taylor Samuels and Daijah Johnson scored four, while Danielle Rizzari and Korin Harris had the other two.

SVU then cut into the lead, scoring seven of the next nine, with Merideth Ouellette hitting two from behind the arc.  The teams traded points before Kalyn Banks and Kiana Scott went back-to-back to extend the advantage to eight.  Harris added another layup late after a Knight free throw, giving Randolph the 22-13 lead after one.

Alexis Calloway and Rizzari sandwiched an early bucket by the visitors to put the advantage back in double-digits.  Following a three by Morgan Hartvigsen, Harris knocked down a jumper and converted a layup to push the lead to 12.  But the remainder of the period would belong to the guests, as the deficit was cut to two.  However, Lauren Moore made a nice layup with six seconds remaining to give Randolph a 32-28 lead at halftime.

Southern Virginia came out of the intermission very strong.  The visitors eventually tied the game at 35-all, before taking the lead on an Alexus Barnes layup with 4:21 remaining in the third.  However, that would be the last of the game for SVU, and it only happened for 10 seconds, as Johnson hit a layup shortly after.

Randolph's advantage went back to four soon after as Harris and Banks each hit a pair from the charity stripe.  Both sides traded points over the final minutes of the half, with Ouellette making a shot from deep with only 13 seconds remaining, but the WildCats still held a three-point advantage going into the fourth.

Samuels opened the fourth with a jumper off a pass from Johnson, before Banks tipped in an offensive rebound to extend it to 53-46.  Leilani Hansen hit a three-pointer shortly after Banks scored, cutting the deficit to four, and after an exchange of baskets, it would remain that size until 4:17 left in the half.

Calloway got an offensive rebound off her own missed free throw and put it back in to get things going for the WildCats.  Samuels followed it shortly after with another layup.  Johnson and Camille Gallagher each scored around a pair of free throws from Kimberly Eads to extend the lead to 10.  Hartvigsen and Hansen each made late threes, but Banks and Gallagher each converted twice from the charity stripe to seal the win.

Harris lead four 'Cats in double-figures with a game-high 15 points.  Samuels had 13, Johnson tallied 12, and Banks started her career with 10.  Harris also just missed out on a double-double, leading the team with nine boards.  The defense was especially strong, holding SVU to 31.4% from the floor.  Johnson had five steals in the game.

Shelby Winsor led Southern Virginia (0-1 overall) with a double-double of 12 points and 15 rebounds.

Randolph (1-0) will head on the road for the rest of the month.  The first tilt comes this Saturday at the Jean Edge Classic, hosted by North Carolina Wesleyan College.  Saturday's game will start at 5 p.m. against Methodist University.