ASHLAND, Va. - Randolph-Macon women's basketball saw
Marisa Ziegler (Forest Hill, Md./John Carroll) and
McKenzie Matheny (Fairfax Station, Va./West Springfield) both score in double figures to help defeat Piedmont in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Basics:
Score: #14 Randolph-Macon 52, Piedmont 31
Venue: Ashland, Va. // Crenshaw Gym // Randolph-Macon College
Records: Randolph-Macon (28-1, 16-0 ODAC), Piedmont (20-8, 14-2 CCS)
How it Happened:
- Piedmont took an early 5-2 lead with two straight baskets with 8:41 on the clock. The Yellow Jackets went on a tear, going on a 15-2 run for the final eight minutes of the period. Juliana Park (Fairfax Station, Va./Davidson Day) and Catherine Kagey (Roanoke, Va./Faith Christian) led the run with nine points between both players. The Lemon and Black were tough on defense and held the Lions to 1-of-6 shooting and forced six turnovers. Randolph-Macon would use the dominant stretch to take a 17-7 lead into the second period.
- In the second period, Kagey made a hussle play to grab a steal and find Sam Smith (Chesterfield, Va./St. Gertrudes) streaking down the floor. Smith's bucket extended the Yellow Jacket lead to 21-9 with 6:48 left in the period. Piedmont scored four straight points to cut the deficit to 21-13 with 4:04 on the clock. In the final four minutes, Emily Olsen (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) scored five of the eight points for Randolph-Macon in the final four minutes. The Lemon and Black would again force the Lions into tough shots and used an 8-1 run to take a 29-14 lead into halftime.
- Randolph-Macon started the third period with Ziegler scoring four of the first six points, extending the lead to 35-16. The Lions answered with five straight points to again pull the deficit down, this time to 35-21 with 3:23 left in the period. In a defensive battle of a period, the Yellow Jackets scored six of the final ten points to take a 41-25 lead into the final ten minutes.
- In the fourth period, the Lemon and Black would push their lead to twenty plus points three different times. Five different players would score for Randolph-Macon in the period and an Olsen layup with under a minute would be the final basket. The Yellow Jackets would take a 52-31 victory in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Inside the Numbers:
- Randolph-Macon shot 41.1 percent from the floor, as Piedmont knocked down 21.1 percent of its shots.
- The Yellow Jackets outrebounded the Lions 40-to-33 in the entire game.
- The Lemon and Black scored 34 of its 52 points in the paint tonight.
- Randolph-Macon was led in scoring by Ziegler tonight, scoring 11 points to go along with three assists, three steals and two rebounds.
- Matheny ended the night with ten points, five rebounds, one steal and an assist.
- Kagey scored nine points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out four assists, blocked two shots and had a steal.
- Olsen tied her career high in points with seven in the game. The freshman also recorded a career high in rebounds with six.
- Smith ended the game with six points, six rebounds and four assists.
For the Record
- This is the least amount of points that the Yellow Jackets have let up this season (31) since they allowed (34) against Averett on 1/25/25.
- The win today is the Yellow Jackets first NCAA tournament win since the 2019-20 season.
- The win tonight is also the 28th of the year for Randolph-Macon, tying the most since the 28-3 record set back in the 2005-06 season.
- Kagey has tied Mary Beth Puccinelli'92 for tenth most rebounds in a single season in school history with 294.
- The Yellow Jackets have not allowed 60 points in the past nine games, the last time coming against Bridgewater on Feb. 5.
Press Conference
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BgX3kit0qo5UV1keRfYLmfKfODFm29wk?dmr=1&ec=wgc-drive-hero-goto
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets will take on #20 Elizabethtown in the second round of the NCAA Tournament tomorrow night at 7:15 p.m. inside of Crenshaw Gym.
