College Women’s Basketball Final – Randolph-Macon 91, Guilford 84

SALEM, Va. – Tournament Most Valuable Player Katie Anderson had 21 points and eight rebounds in Randolph-Macon College’s 91-84 over Guilford College in Sunday’s Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Basketball Tournament final.

The Yellow Jackets (23-5) claimed their eighth ODAC Tourney title and earned the league’s automatic NCAA Division III playoff berth. The loss ended Guilford’s eight-game winning streak in the Salem Civic Center and its bid for a third straight ODAC Tournament crown. The Quakers (21-7) await a possible at-large playoff selection when the bids are announced Monday (3/3) at 2:30 p.m. EST on www.ncaa.com.

The Yellow Jackets shot 54.4% from the floor and made 10-of-21 three-pointers against one of the ODAC’s top defensive teams. Anderson led the way with eight-of-15 field-goal shooting and made both three-point shots. She had 16 first-half points, including nine during a 24-7 Yellow Jackets’ run midway through the half. Thanks Morgan King’s 14 points and 10 by Kayla Adams (Rural Hall, N.C./North Forsyth), the Quakers stayed with the hot-shooting Yellow Jackets and trailed at the half, 47-44.

One of the game’s biggest plays took place in the opening minute when senior forward Gabby Oglesby (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mt. Tabor), Guilford’s top scorer and rebounder, turned an ankle. After a brief stint on the bench, she returned to the lineup for 11 minutes, but not a full strength. She played the first three minutes of the second half, but did not return and finished with two points and three rebounds in 15 minutes.

Randolph-Macon made its move early in the second half with a 21-11 run over a seven-minute span. After Guilford’s King score to trim the Quakers’ deficit to 53-48 with 15:51 remaining, the Yellow Jackets’ Taylor Huber made four straight shots, including a three-pointer. Teammate Hannah Livermon followed Huber’s outburst with threes. With Oglesby on the bench, the Quakers couldn’t keep pace. Sarah Parsons’ layup with 10:20 left in regulation capped the run and opened a 72-57 edge.

Guilford rookie Anais Weatherly (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) sparked a Quakers’ rally and her three-pointer with 1:20 left to play cut Randolph-Macon’s lead to 86-82. She scored 13 points off the bench in the second half and also made two steals. The comeback fell short as Stephanie Staples answered Weatherly’s triple with a jumper and the Yellow Jackets converted three free throws in the final minute.

Randolph-Macon’s Huber netted all 13 of her points in the second half, 8.7 off her league-leading average. Parsons added 14 points, 10 in the first half. Livermon and Khajae Hester both scored nine points. Staples tallied all of her eight points in the second half and had a game-high five assists. Randolph-Macon converted 17 Guilford turnovers into 25 points and committed just 10 miscues itself.

Guilford’s King led all scorers with 25 points, two shy of her career high set in Saturday’s semifinal win over Eastern Mennonite University. The senior also grabbed a game-best 15 rebounds, which matched her career high. King helped the Quakers to 48-27 rebounding edge and 23 second-chance points, compared to the Yellow Jackets’ 12. Adams and Weatherly scored 15 points apiece.
King and Oglesby represented Guilford on the ODAC’s All-Tournament team. Huber and Parsons joined Anderson as Randolph-Macon’s all-tourney selections.

Guilford vs Randolph-Macon
03/02/14 1:00 p.m. at Salem, VA – Salem Civic Center
At Salem, VA – Salem Civic Center

RANDOLPH-MACON 91
GUILFORD 84

GUILFORD (21-7): KING, Morgan 7-16 11-12 25; WEATHERLY, Anais 6-11 2-2 15; ADAMS, Kayla 6-13 0-0 15; TAYLOR, Jennette 4-11 0-2 8; DREW, Brittany 2-6 2-2 6; MARTIN, Miranda 2-4 2-5 6; SCOTT, Lila 2-4 0-0 5; WALTERS, Heaven 0-0 2-2 2; OGLESBY, Gabby 1-3 0-0 2; HARDIN, Logan 0-3 0-0 0; MOTT, Aja 0-0 0-0 0; BURNICK, Sarah 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-71 19-25 84.

RANDOLPH-MACON (23-5): ANDERSON, Katie 8-15 3-4 21; PARSONS, Sarah 4-9 4-7 14; HUBER, Taylor 6-14 0-0 13; LIVERMON, Hannah 3-6 0-0 9; HESTER, Khajae 2-2 4-4 9; CORTINA, Kellie 2-2 3-4 8; STAPLES, Stephanie 4-5 0-0 8; VUGTEVEEN, Lauren 1-2 1-2 3; BERRY, Marisha 0-0 3-4 3; YOUNG, Caroline 1-2 0-0 2; MILLS, Paige 0-0 1-2 1; INTERMILL, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-57 19-27 91.

   Guilford......................   44   40  -   84
   Randolph-Macon................   47   44  -   91

3-point goals–Guilford 5-12 (ADAMS, Kayla 3-6; WEATHERLY, Anais 1-2; SCOTT, Lila 1-3; DREW, Brittany 0-1), Randolph-Macon 10-21 (LIVERMON, Hannah 3-6; ANDERSON, Katie 2-2; PARSONS, Sarah 2-4; HUBER, Taylor 1-7; CORTINA, Kellie 1-1; HESTER, Khajae 1-1).
Fouled out–Guilford-None, Randolph-Macon-None.
Rebounds–Guilford 48 (KING, Morgan 15), Randolph-Macon 27 (ANDERSON, Katie 8).
Assists–Guilford 11 (ADAMS, Kayla 3; TAYLOR, Jennette 3), Randolph-Macon 13 (STAPLES, Stephanie 5).
Total fouls–Guilford 22, Randolph-Macon 21.
Technical fouls–Guilford-None, Randolph-Macon-None.
A-655

Randolph-Macon wins the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament final