CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Struggling offensively for the entirety of the first half, Robert C. Byrd had to find way for its contest with Ravenswood to be played at a faster pace.
When the Eagles did that, next came figuring out how to cut into a 10-point halftime deficit.
By closing the third quarter with eight straight points over the final 2 minutes, Robert C. Byrd did exactly that. The Eagles then carried that momentum into the fourth and continued to turn defense into offense, gaining its first lead in the final frame and never looking back to claim a 40-36 victory over the Devilettes in the first game of the Civil & Environmental Consultants Classic at RCB.
“I’m really happy with the presence of our team, them fighting and not feeling like they were out there failing when they made a mistake,” Eagles’ head coach Robert Shields said. “Everybody is going to make mistakes. The key is to play through your mistakes, keep hustling and maybe you can make up for it on the defensive end. That showed some today.”
Ravenswood (3-1) dominated the second quarter to the tune of an 11-2 advantage to lead 17-7 at halftime. The Devilettes’ Jayme Salser matched the Eagles’ offensive output in the first half with three field goals and seven points.
The Devilettes’ advantage was as large as a dozen in the third quarter after Marley Cole scored inside to make it 23-11.
But after trailing 24-14 later that period, the Eagles put together their best stretch of the outing, getting one free throw from Jada Sutherlin and two from Abri Williams before Kendall Sturm scored from close range and
Savanna Sherard made a three-pointer in the final seconds, allowing RCB to trail 24-22 through three fames. That was as close as the hosts had been since a 6-5 deficit through one quarter.
“At the 2:34 mark [of the third quarter] when there was a timeout, I told them they were playing hard, but to look at the scoreboard,” Shields said. “We had nothing to show for it and hadn’t gained a point yet [in the second half]. We had to capitalize and we did. We set up a couple good plays and from there, everything kind of fell into place.”
Salser opened the fourth-quarter scoring with two free throws, but a conventional three-point play from Sutherlin cut the Ravenswood lead to one with 7:13 remaining.
After Amirah Moore’s layup enabled the Eagles to tie it at 27, Sutherlin converted an uncontested transition layup off a steal to give RCB its first lead, then scored on a drive to the basket in a half court set to double it.
Jada Sutherlin broke a 27-all tie with a transition layup to give Robert C. Byrd its first lead in a 40-36 win against Ravenswood and accounted for the next bucket as well. Eagles never trailed again after gaining advantage.#wvgirlsbb pic.twitter.com/8NZc7BwdDd
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) December 12, 2025
Ravenswood’s deficit grew to give before they got back-to-back buckets from Emily Andrade and Rachel Lambert, the latter of which was a floater that made it a one-point game (32-31) with 1:15 left.
A key sequence followed in which Sturm made two free throws and then came up with a steal and assisted a Williams layup, leaving RCB with a five-point advantage with just inside 1 minute remaining.
The Eagles made 4-of-6 foul shots over the final 35 seconds and didn’t allow the Devilettes to get closer than three in the final minute, completing the comeback to claim a close win in their season opener.
“We made our free throws down the stretch, which I commend our goals for coming through in a pressure situation to maintain that lead,” Shields said.
Salser led Ravenswood with 13 points and Lambert added nine.
The Devilettes turned it over 24 times, including 14 after halftime.
“We fed off the defensive end and applying pressure,” Shields said.
RCB shot 10 for 19 from the field in the second half. Sutherlin’s 12 points were a team high. Sherard added nine and Sturm scored eight.