College Women’s Basketball Final – Guilford 59, Randolph-Macon 55

ASHLAND, Va. – Kate Clark’s three-point basket with 1:42 left in the fourth quarter put Guilford College ahead for good as the Quakers shook off a Randolph-Macon College fourth-quarter rally to claim a Saturday afternoon Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) victory, 59-55.

The Quakers (17-3, 10-2 ODAC) took a 10-6 lead through the first five minutes of the first quarter as Heaven Walters (Elkin, N.C./Starmount) drove to the basket four times to post four of Guilford five first field goals of the contest. Guilford extended their lead as much as eight points in the final two minutes of the period before their advantage settled at seven points to close the quarter. Guilford shot 53.8 percent in the period compared to Randolph-Macon’s (10-10, 5-7 ODAC) 30.8 percent.

The Yellow Jackets held the Quakers without a point for a 4:07 stretch in the second quarter after Anais Weatherly’s (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) basket 1:07 into the period. In that drought, Randolph-Macon produced an 8-0 run. The Quakers countered with an 8-0 run of the own while holding the Yellow Jackets without a point for a 4:42 stretch leading up to a Yellow Jackets basket with 30 seconds left.

The bucket sparked a 7-0 run for Randolph-Macon lasting 2:37 into the third quarter as both sides began to trade baskets for most of the period. The Quakers produced a stretch of three-straight baskets in a 1:18 span within the final three minutes of the period where neither side mounted any run higher than 4-0 in all other portions of the quarter.

A Lauren Ramsey (Lexington, N.C./North Davidson) three-pointer sparked the Quakers to their largest lead, 11 points, 1:07 into the fourth quarter. Randolph-Macon countered with a 14-2 run, spanning a 4:16 stretch to erase the Quakers’ lead a claim a one-point lead of their own with 3:13 left. Jordyn Brown broke the run with her third basket of the period nine seconds later. Marisha Berry countered with a three-pointer in the next possession to swing the lead back to the Yellow Jackets before Ramsey’s field goal tied the game one possession later. Clark’s three-pointer after a Yellow Jackets turnover in the next possession gave the Quakers the lead for good even as the Yellow Jackets pressured the Quakers to the final minute.

Walters finished the contest with a team-high 14 points on seven-of-ten shooting while pulling down six rebounds and adding three assists. Ramsey posted 13 points on six-of-11 shooting while Weatherly posted ten points on five-of-nine shooting with four rebounds, five assists, and three steals.

Randolph-Macon’s Kelly Williams led all scorers with 23 points on seven-of-eight shooting while completing her double-double with 13 rebounds. Kelsey Wisner was the remaining Yellow Jackets’ player in double-figure scoring with 12 points.

The Quakers shot 48.2 percent compared to Randolph-Macon’s 37.3 percent. The Yellow Jackets visited the foul line more often, shooting 14-of-16 while Guilford only shot three-of-six. Guilford closed the contest shooting 53.8 percent in the fourth quarter while the Yellow Jackets shot 37.5 percent.

The Quakers won the rebounding battle, 33-29, while holding a 14-10 edge in second-chance points. The Quakers held a strong 48-28 advantage in the paint. While Guilford committed one more turnover than Randolph-Macon, 21-20, the Quakers claimed the advantage in points-off-turnovers, 20-10.

Guilford returns home Wednesday to host Hollins University for a 7 p.m. ODAC contest.

Guilford vs Randolph-Macon
2/4/17 2:00 PM at Ashland, Va.
At Ashland, Va.

GUILFORD 59
RANDOLPH-MACON 55

GUILFORD (17-3 (10-2 ODAC)): WALTERS, Heaven 7-10 0-0 14; RAMSEY, Lauren 6-11 0-0 13; WEATHERLY, Anais 5-9 0-0 10; BROWN, Jordyn 4-6 1-2 9; ABRAHAM, Essence 3-11 0-0 6; CLARK, Kate 1-5 0-0 3; STELLER, Amy 0-2 2-2 2; WALTERS, Miracle 1-2 0-0 2; RICHARDSON, Jordyn 0-0 0-0 0; SCOTT, Kayla 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 27-56 3-6 59.

RANDOLPH-MACON (10-10 (5-7 ODAC)): WILLIAMS, Kelly 7-8 9-10 23; WISNER, Kelsey 3-10 4-4 12; LEE, Amber 4-9 1-2 9; ROSS, Michal 3-11 0-0 6; BERRY, Marisha 2-7 0-0 5; DENNIS, Deja 0-2 0-0 0; INTERMILL, Taylor 0-2 0-0 0; WADE, Jayla 0-1 0-0 0; CONTEH, Kareema 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-51 14-16 55.

Guilford......................   15   10   16   18  -   59
Randolph-Macon................    8   10   17   20  -   55

3-point goals–Guilford 2-11 (CLARK, Kate 1-5; RAMSEY, Lauren 1-2; ABRAHAM, Essence 0-3; STELLER, Amy 0-1), Randolph-Macon 3-12 (WISNER, Kelsey 2-6; BERRY, Marisha 1-4; ROSS, Michal 0-1; INTERMILL, Taylor 0-1).
Fouled out–Guilford-None, Randolph-Macon-None.
Rebounds–Guilford 33 (WALTERS, Heaven 6), Randolph-Macon 29 (WILLIAMS, Kelly 13).
Assists–Guilford 18 (WEATHERLY, Anais 5), Randolph-Macon 16 (ROSS, Michal 3; INTERMILL, Taylor 3; BERRY, Marisha 3).
Total fouls–Guilford 17, Randolph-Macon 15.
Technical fouls–Guilford-None, Randolph-Macon-None.
A-417