Bridgewater women’s basketball falls to Randolph-Macon, 99-81

Randolph-Macon, ranked No. 18 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, continued its torrid early-season scoring pace Tuesday evening with a 99-81 victory over the Bridgewater College Eagles in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) women’s basketball contest at Nininger Hall.

The visiting Yellow Jackets (7-0 overall, 2-0 in the ODAC) entered the contest ranked fourth in the nation in scoring at 94.2 points per game and did nothing Tuesday night to hurt that average.

The Eagles matched Macon in the early going, matching the Yellow Jackets in the first 10 minutes of the game. A layup by Bridgewater’s Cassidy Burkholder pulled the Eagles to within a single point, 21-20, with 9:59left in the opening half.

Bridgewater still trailed by one, 23-22, after a Jessica Lam bucket, but three straight turnovers fueled an 8-0 Yellow Jackets run as the visitors opened up a nine-point, 31-22, lead with 5:47 left in the first half.

A jumper by Sarah Parsons pushed the Macon lead to 13, but a 6-0 run by Bridgewater cut the deficit back to single digits. A jumper by Jessi Strom and two buckets from Rebecca Reifsnider sliced the margin to 39-32, with 2:07 left in the half.

A three-point play by Holly Morgan with 46 seconds left once again cut the lead to seven points, but Lauren Vugteveen converted a layup with five seconds left to send Randolph-Macon to the locker room with a 44-35 lead at the break.

The Yellow Jackets outscored the Eagles 18-9 in the opening 5:07 of the second half to push their lead to 18 points, 62-44.

Bridgewater then responded with a 14-4 run to trim the deficit back under double figures.

Two free throws by Strom and a 3-pointer by Morgan sliced the Macon lead to 13 points and a layup by Heather Cantrell pulled the Eagles closer at 62-51. Vugteveen hit two foul shots for the Jackets, but another layup by Cantrell and a bucket by Lam cut the lead to 64-55 with 12:40 left. Macon’s Stephanie Staples and Cantrell traded inside hoops before Cantrell hit 1-of-2 from the foul line as the Macon lead dwindled to eight, 66-58, with 11:00 left to play.

The Yellow Jackets kept the pressure on at the offensive end and a 6-0 spurt quikcly pushed the lead back to 14 points, 72-58.

Bridgewater remained within striking distance, trailing by just 11 points, 76-65, at the 7:53 mark, but another 6-0 spurt pushed the Randolph-Macon lead to 17 with 6:47 left in the game.

Morgan led the Eagles with a career-high 22 points and Burkholder posted a double-double with 19 points and 11 boards. Cantrell also reached double figures with 11 points.

The Yellow Jackets put four players in double figures. Katie Anderson, who entered the game averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds, led the winners with 19 points and 12 boards. Taylor Huber, the ODAC’s leading scorer at 24 points per contest, and Parsons each finished with 18 points.

Randolph-Macon connected on 49.3 percent of its field goal attempts (37-of-75), including 54 percent (9-of-20) from beyond the 3-point line. Bridgewater shot 41 percent from the floor (31-of-78) and hit just 5-of-19 from beyond the arc. The Jackets also won the battle on the boards by a 49-41 margin.

The Eagles, now 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the ODAC, return to action Friday evening when they travel to Lynchburg College for another conference contest. Game time is set for 7 p.m.