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), (RV) 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 another three and a 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 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 fourth, 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 also has 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, shotting 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.