LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph women's basketball looked to make history as it hosted Ferrum on Saturday afternoon at Giles Gymnasium. The game was close in the end but the WildCats held off the Panthers for a 49-42 victory.
The win gives Randolph its program-record 17th and tops the 16 wins set last season. The WildCats' overall record improves to 17-5 overall and 11-4 in the ODAC. Ferrum drops to 9-13 overall and 5-10 in the conference.
"Really proud of the team today," said head coach Steve Lanpher. "We didn't execute great at times but I thought collectively we defended and played unselfishly. We controlled the tempo and contained top scorers."
The WildCats came out strong in the first quarter as they got out to a 22-8 lead. Leading 25-11 with 6:26 remaining in the second quarter, Ferrum battled back as it used a 9-2 run to close out the period and trail only 27-20 at halftime.
Randolph got its advantage back up to double digits to start the third quarter as a jumper and three-point basket by Kylie Stark (Lynchburg, Va./Brookville) followed by a layup by Nadia West (Monroe, Va./Amherst County) upped the WildCat lead to 14 points, 34-20, with 5:19 remaining in the third. The Panthers chopped that lead down to five points with a 9-0 run and trailed 37-31 heading into the fourth quarter.
A layup by Ferrum's Kayleigh Shreffler made it a four-point contest to start the fourth period. Randolph increased its lead to 10 points, 49-39, with 3:40 left to play. The Panthers only score three points the rest of the way as the WildCats held off Ferrum and secured the victory.
Randolph shot 22-of-58 (37.9%) from the floor and was 9-of-25 (36%) from behind the three-point arc. Ferrum went 24-of-63 (38.1%) overall and 11-of-24 (45.8%) in three-point attempts. The Panthers did control re rebounding battle with a 47-34 advantage.
Stark led the 'Cats with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting and added three rebounds and two assists. Teniyah Crenshaw-Patterson (Newport News, Va./Heritage) added 14 points six rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Abbie Baker (Salem, Va./Patrick Henry) pulled down eight rebounds. Yanessa Cabrera (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson) finished with a game-high eight assists and added four points, four rebounds, and three steals.
":I thought Kylie came out and really set the tone on both ends," noted Lanpher. "Teniyah was assertive in offense and found her stroke again. Abbie and Nadia continue to give us rebounding and a nice offensive presence. Yanessa really distributed the ball with a game high 8 assists. I thought Nat gave us some really quality minutes of the bench as well."
Randolph travels to Bridgewater on Wednesday. Game time is at 5:00 p.m. The WildCats will look to avenge their 59-50 loss to the Eagles back on November 16.