ASHLAND, Va. – Women's hoops dominated on both sides of the ball, earning its fourth consecutive victory after three Yellow Jackets reached the 15-point mark.
The Basics:
Score: Randolph-Macon 65, Bridgewater 50
Venue: Ashland, Va. // Crenshaw Gymnasium // Randolph-Macon College
Records: Randolph-Macon (14-6, 8-3 ODAC), Bridgewater (16-4, 9-2 ODAC)
How it Happened
- Erin Porter (Virginia Beach, Va./Kettle Run) got the scoring started for the Yellow Jackets with an aggressive drive to the hoop after an opening three from Bridgewater. After then forcing a shot clock violation from the Eagles, Sam Smith (Chesterfield, Va./St. Gertrudes) found McKenzie Matheny (Fairfax Station, Va./West Springfield) for back-to-back layups with 5:50 left in the first, forcing a timeout from the road team, with RMC up 6-3. Then, with 1:50 left in the frame, Smith finished on a difficult and-one, followed by a deep wing triple, extending her team's lead to 16-8. Entering the second quarter, RMC led 18-10, after Riley White (Hamilton, Va./Virginia Academy) found a cutting Matheny for a close-range bucket.
- Riley Corcoran got a layup to fall to start the second quarter, closing the gap to 12-18. The Lemon and Black responded with pressure, as Porter nailed a turnaround baseline jumper before Anna Wilcox (Asheville, N.C./A.C. Reynolds) located Matheny for another layup, extending RMC's lead to 22-12 with 6:36 left before the break. With 2:20 to go, the RMC offense erupted, as Smith buried a corner three before Matheny hit Porter on a long fastbreak layup, increasing the lead to 29-16 with 2:21 left on the clock. Despite a free throw from the Eagles, Randolph-Macon finished the half up 33-19, thanks to an elbow floater and layup from Porter.
- While a free throw and layup for BC were the first three points of the third, Smith responded with her third triple of the evening, giving her squad a 36-22 lead just 1:49 in. In the middle of the frame, the Yellow Jacket offense began to explode, as Wilcox first found Matheny for a familiar connection, before Smith laced a layup and deep two, thanks to a nice screen and feed from Liz Wyrick (Greensboro, N.C./Greensboro Day), pushing Randolph Macon out to a 44-26 lead with 4:37 left in the third. In the final minute of the frame, Smith found a driving White for a layup, before inbounding to Matheny under the hoop with just a second left, giving the home team a 50-30 cushion heading into the fourth.
- Wilcox and Corcoran traded midrange buckets to begin the final 10 minutes, until free throws and a layup from Matheny put the Yellow Jackets ahead 56-32 with 8:26 to play. Bridgewater responded with a 6-0 run of its own, until Matheny ended the run with a jumper inside the arc, keeping RMC ahead 60-39 with 3:50 remaining in the contest. In the final 50 seconds, Lila Donnelly (Chesterfield, Va./Monacan) hit a three-ball at the top of the arc, before Madison Langdon (Reading, Pa./Berks Catholic) got a running floater to go, helping the home team lock up a 65-50 decisive victory.
Inside the Numbers
- Randolph-Macon led Bridgewater in field goal percentage (43.3-to-37.8), three-point percentage (28.6-to-7.7) and free throw percentage (1.000-to-.750).
- RMC outrebounded BC, 37-27, including 23-20 on the defensive glass and 14-7 on the offensive glass.
- The Yellow Jackets were effective on both sides of the ball, leading in assists (15-5) and limiting turnovers (12-14).
- Smith finished with 16 points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals across her 35 minutes of play.
- She went 6-of-11 from the field, including 3-of-6 from downtown. Her six field goals made tied her season-high, as the junior guard has notched double digits in each of her last six games. Smith has also registered four-or-more field goals made in each of her last six games.
- Matheny finished the game with a team-high 20 points and 10 rebounds, marking her fourth consecutive game with a double-double. She also posted two blocks and a steal, marking her second-straight game with two or more blocks and a steal.
- The senior also tied her-season high with nine field goals made, shooting an efficient 56.3 percent in the contest (9-of-16).
- While pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds against the Eagles, while also adding four points and a block.
- Porter ended the evening with 16 points, three rebounds and two steals, extending her double-digit point total streak to three games and four of her past five overall.
Up Next
Women's hoops has its next matchup against Averett on Saturday, February 7 at 4:30 p.m. in Danville, Virginia.
