ROCK HILL, S.C. – Junior Davida Dodson (Silver Spring, Md.) came off the bench to score eight points in a key second half run, lifting Radford to a 54-50 Big South victory at Winthrop, Monday evening from the Winthrop Coliseum.

It was the first road win of the season for the Highlanders (3-11, 2-1 Big South).

Box Score

Dodson drained two threes and hit a pair of charity tosses during a 10-3 run that erased a four-point deficit and gave Radford the lead for good (45-42) with 3:50 left in the game.

After the Eagles (6-8, 1-2 Big South) got within one on their next possession, senior Johnette Walker (Columbia, S.C./Irmo) recorded two steals and junior Kymesha Alston (Hampton, Va./Manhattan) senior Vandy Pullen (Arlington, Va./Maine) were the beneficiaries each hitting a layup to put Radford up 50-45 with 1:10 left.

“I was proud of our team tonight,” said head coach Tajama Ngongba. “Davida was clutch off the bench hitting two big three-pointers and Johnette made two huge defensive plays down the stretch.”

Winthrop cut the lead to two, but Radford hit 4-of-6 free throws to seal the victory.

Dodson finished with eight points, all coming in a 2:32 span. Alston recorded a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. She has corralled a total of 35 rebounds in the last three games. Sophomore Taleia Moton (Fort Washington, Md./Suitland) led all scorers with 14 points. Walker chipped in with 10 points and recorded four steals.

Ashley Fann led the Eagles with 13 points.

“We worked hard on every possession and had great composure down the stretch, especially the defense which stepped up when we needed it too,” said Ngongba.

The teams went into halftime deadlocked at 27-27 apiece. Moton led all scorers at the break with 10 points. Jessica Fansler led the Eagles with eight points.

After some back-and-forth play in the first 10 minutes, Radford used an 8-1 run to take a 16-11 lead at 7:30. After Fansler drained a three for Winthrop, Moton answered with a triple of her own and Walker hit two free throws to give Radford its largest lead of the half (21-14) with 5:37 to go.

An 8-1 run, capped off by an Ashley Haughtvedt fast break jumper, knotted the game at 22-22 at 2:16. The teams traded buckets on the final two possessions of the half.

The teams got off to a sluggish start in the second half as Winthrop outscored Radford, 12-8, in the first 13:19 for the 39-35 lead before Dodson kick started Radford's comeback with her back-to-back long-range jumpers.

The Highlanders finished the game shooting 33 percent and scoring 17 points off of 19 Eagle turnovers.

Radford makes the trek to Asheville, N.C. for a 2 p.m. tip against UNC Asheville on Saturday, Jan. 17.