The 2005 “Final Four” will be held Friday and Saturday, March 18 and 19, at the Jane P. Batten Center on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk. Details on opponent and game times will be known sometime Monday afternoon.
The win, which is their 22nd in a row – the longest winning streak in the program’s history – makes the Yellow Jackets 29-1 overall. The total of 29 wins is the most in a single season in the career of Randolph-Macon 22nd-year head coach Carroll LaHaye. The Bruins end the season at 22-6.
George Fox dominated early with an up-tempo game plan of full-court pressure on defense and constant motion on offense. Randolph-Macon opened the game slowly on both ends of the floor. A five-minute scoreless span by the Yellow Jackets helped George Fox open up a 19-8 lead midway through the first half.
Randolph-Macon then began to dig its way back, getting huge shots from several players. First, sophomore guard Marta Merkel hit a clutch three-point basket to end the scoring drought. Junior guard Megan Silva went to work, nailing a three-pointer followed by two other key baskets. To complete the comeback, sophomore guard Salem Shaffer made back-to-back three-point field goals to give her team the lead at the close of the half. Randolph-Macon was ahead 32-29 at the break.
As the second half got underway, Randolph-Macon got several good looks at the basket that would have allowed them to pull away. But the Yellow Jackets missed their first six shots of the half, before senior center Emily Crider stepped outside and made a three-point shot to extend the lead to six points.
George Fox would close the gap to one point with a big three-pointer by junior guard Kim Leith, which gave her 1,000 points for her career. The Yellow Jackets regained the momentum, however. Shaffer nailed back-to-back three-point field goals, followed by a long-range basket by Merkel to cap off a 9-0 run. That put Randolph-Macon up by 10 points, 46-36, with 11:37 remaining, and the lead was never below eight points the rest of the contest.
Randolph-Macon was able to close the game out from the free throw line. The Yellow Jackets, who did not attempt any foul shots in the first half, scored eight of their last 10 points at the charity stripe, and were 9-for-12 at the line overall for the game.
George Fox was led by new 1,000-point scorer Leith, with a game-high 19 points. She was followed by 11 points each from senior guards Liz Clark and Kellie Thomas. Clark also led the Bruins on the glass with 11 rebounds.
As has been the case this postseason, the Yellow Jackets got contributions from several different players. Silva led them in scoring with 17 points, to go along with four assists. Shaffer scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds. Merkel finished with 12 points. Senior center Emily Crider led Randolph-Macon in rebounds and blocked shots, with eleven and four, respectively.
The key to the game came down to making shots. George Fox head coach Scott Rueck credited Randolph-Macon's defense for his team's poor shooting from the field. The Bruins shot 25.8% for the game, and just 17.1% in the second half. After making 5-of-10 of their three-pointers in the first half, the Bruins converted on just 2-of-18 in the second.
"They [Randolph-Macon] kept us out of transition," Rueck commented. "There were no easy baskets, they made us work for everything."
The Bruins actually won the turnover battle 18-14, using their full court press virtually the entire game. When asked about how the press affected the fatigue of his players, Rueck said that it was a non-issue, as that is how they usually play defensively.
Randolph-Macon’s LaHaye basically challenged her players when things looked bad in the first half.
“I told them that this could be their last game, and that they needed to stop being afraid and attack at both ends,” she said.
LaHaye credited the play of several reserves – Merkel, junior forward Megan Senske, and freshman forward Jannesa Morusma – for their major contributions off the bench.
“That has been the story of our success all season long,” commented LaHaye.
The Most Outstanding Player for this weekend’s three-game “Sweet Sixteen” and “Elite Eight” sectional was Randolph-Macon’s Silva. She was joined on the all-tournament team by her teammate, Shaffer; George Fox’s Leith; senior post player Tara Rohde from Trinity University (TX); and senior post player Kim Johnson from College of Saint Benedict (MN).