Randolph College Women’s Basketball Cut Down by Bridgewater College 77-66

LYNCHBURG, VA – The Randolph College women’s basketball team played its most complete game Tuesday night but a 10-0 run by Bridgewater College midway through the second half spelled doom for the WildCats in a 77-66 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) loss to the Eagles.

Randolph (3-18/0-16 ODAC) had its second-best shooting evening of the season, posting a 40.4 percent clip (23-57). The WildCats also shot 50 percent in the second half, which was their best shooting half of the season. The 66 points also tied for its highest point output of the year.

The lead was back and forth in the first stanza, as the two teams traded advantages five times before the WildCats went ahead 14-13 with 12:54 left on a three-pointer from Lauren French (Blairs, VA/Chatham). That three was part of a 9-0 spurt that saw Randolph take a 20-13 lead with 10:42 remaining.

With Randolph up by six at 26-20, the Eagles (14-7/10-6 ODAC) went on a 7-0 run that ended with BC taking a one-point lead after a free throw from Jenny Logan. After Randolph tied the game back up at 27, the visitors ran into the locker rooms with an 8-0 stretch, capped by a Kelsey Taylor jumper with 16 seconds in the first half.

After the break, Randolph refused to go away, clawing back from a nine-point deficit to tie the game at 43 with 14:14 to play on a three from sophomore Courtney Bouchard (Fairfax, VA/W.T. Woodson). Two free throws by Bouchard put the WildCats up by two at 45-43, but BC scored the next six points to go up by four.

A Sam Sublett (Bedford, VA /Staunton River) traditional three-point play pulled Randolph to within one and the lead stayed within three for the next two minutes of play. With the score 55-52 in favor of Bridgewater, the visitors would rattle off 10 straight points including a three-pointer by Holly Morgan to cap the run.

The hosts got the BC lead back down to eight, but could get no closer. Randolph put four scorers in double-figures for the first time all season, as Bri Lowry (Herndon, VA/Herndon) had a team-high of 14 points. Lowry supplemented her point total with five boards and five assists. French ended the game with 11 points and six rebounds, nailing three shots from behind the arc.

First-year Chelsea Tyler (Richmond, VA/Henrico) had 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals while fellow newcomer Bonnie Bishop (Fairfax, VA/Trinity Christian) was three-of-five from the floor and four-of-four from the line in posting 10 points and five steals. Randolph was 15-of-20 from the line, its best free throw shooting performance of the season.

Bridgewater put five players in double figures, highlighted by the game-high 16 points from Morgan. The first-year also added nine points, six assists and two steals. Taylor had 15 points, while Jenny Logan had 13 points, six boards and four helpers.

Shannan Thorne had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Kelsie Floyd made all five of her field goals and both of her free throws for 12 points in 10 minutes of action. BC was 17-of-28 from the line and won the rebounding battle, 41-35.

The WildCats will now head to Salem, VA Friday evening for a road tussle with Roanoke College in the C. Homer Bast Center at 7 p.m.