Randolph shooting to contend in ODAC

The goal for the Randolph College women’s basketball team is clear. It has been 10 years since the Wildcats have qualified for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s tournament and, for the program, that is unacceptable.

“It is way overdue,” Randolph coach Melissa Wiggins said. “It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m certain we will step up to it.”

The top eight teams qualified for the ODAC tournament last year and the Wildcats finished 10th, just two games behind Lynchburg College, which earned the final tourney berth. This year, Randolph finished 10th in the preseason ODAC coaches poll.

“We are trying to get to the ODAC tournament,” guard Katie Rechnitzer said. “We haven’t gotten to experience that, and it is supposed to be a really good experience. We’ve worked really hard over the summer and are working really hard right now for the chance to make it.”

The good news is the Wildcats have won five ODAC games each of the last two seasons. So it won’t take a Herculean effort to make it over the hump.

Wiggins also returns three starters from last year’s team, including senior stalwarts Rechnitzer and Lindsay Cross. Rechnitzer was the team’s leading scorer averaging 11.9 points per game. She was an ODAC honorable-mention selection and led the team with 44 3-pointers. Rechnitzer enters the season 54 points short of 1,000 for her career. Cross averaged 10.8 points per game and 7.8 rebounds. Megan Carney is the third returning starter. She averaged 4.9 points per game and 3.4 rebounds.

Randolph also returns seniors Jamie Steigerwald and Shar Plows, and sophomores Rebecca Ann Folden and Lauren French. Wiggins also brought in two first-year players, Olivia Johnson and Tavelyn Brown, but Johnson tore her ACL and will miss the season.

The bad news is the Wildcats lack size and depth. The closet thing to a true post player Wiggins has is Cross at 5-8. Carney is the tallest player on Randolph’s roster at 5-10, but she is listed as a guard/forward.

It is clear the rebounding and interior defense against some of the conference’s taller post players will be areas of concern for Wiggins, but she hopes her small, quick and skilled lineup will present as many matchup problems as they pose for the Wildcats.

“I see it as a challenge for the other schools,” Wiggins said. “If everyone can play every position (for us) then it is going to be a challenge for them to defend us. We are better shooters from top to bottom than we were last year. Everyone’s going to get a chance to post up and everyone is going to get a chance to handle the ball. The versatility of our group will be strength for us.”

The Wildcats only have nine players on the roster, and with Johnson out for the year Wiggins will have just three options off of the bench.

“You have got to play with what you have,” Rechnitzer said. “We are definitely going to be a perimeter-oriented team. We’ve known we are going to be small, so we all have been running through each position in each drill. Even me, and I’m only 5-7, at the (center spot). We are just going to have to push through this season when we have injuries or sickness because we don’t have as many people. We are just going to have to persevere, work together and rely on each other.”

“Losing Johnson was a blow,” Wiggins said. “She was our point guard. She was a very, very good all-around point guard. The bonus with a small team is there is no contention for playing time. Practice-wise it will be tough, but if you’re fit, you’re ready and most teams only go eight or nine deep anyway.”

Randolph College has its home opener tonight when the Wildcats host Virginia Intermont at 7:30 p.m. Randolph opens the ODAC season on Nov. 30 when it hosts Eastern Mennonite at 7 p.m.