ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Ana Baker hit a pull-up jumper with three seconds left to give UNC Asheville a 52-50 victory over Radford, Saturday afternoon from the Justice Center.

With 28 ticks on the clock, sophomore Taleia Moton (Fort Washington, Md./Suitland) came out of a timeout and hit a driving layup to tie the game at 50-50. It was the game's first bucket in five minutes. After a UNCA (7-11, 4-1 Big South) timeout, Baker drove left off a screen and hit her patented 15-foot step-back jumper for the win.

Box Score

Baker finished with a game-high 17 points. Moton led the Highlanders (3-12, 2-2 Big South) with a team-best 15 points and also had four steals. Sophomore Denay Wood (Bailey's Crossroads, Va./Annandale) had a career-night, recording her first collegiate double-double with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, both career highs.

“Denay has been focused since Christmas on her post game,” said head coach Tajama Ngongba. “She has done a good job since being inserted into the four position and it has showed, especially on the boards.”

Both teams struggled shooting the ball in the second half as UNCA shot 38 percent and Radford, 34 percent for the game. Also, neither team could find their touch at the charity stripe as they combined for 20 missed free throws, going a combined 9-for-39 (RU 4-14, UNCA 5-15).

“We had a sluggish look on the offensive end tonight which is not a characteristic of our team,” said Ngongba. “You have night like these, which means you have to control things on the defensive end and I though we did that tonight.”

With Radford leading 12-9 in the first half, UNC Asheville went on a 12-0 run, holding the Highlanders scoreless for five minutes to take a 21-12 lead at 9:08. During the run Ana Baker and Kyla Jones nailed threes and Radford turned the ball over five times.

Back-to-back layups by Moton and senior Johnette Walker (Columbia, S.C./Irmo) ended the drought. Walker finished the game with 12 points, nine rebounds, six steals and four assists. With those four assists, she moved into a tie for second all-time at Radford with 467 helpers.

Radford was able to get within four on two occasions before the Bulldogs extended their lead back to nine points (30-21) on a Lindsey Montgomery triple from the corner at 3:50.

Two quick layups by Wood and junior Davida Dodson (Silver Spring, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) ignited a 9-0 run. A minute after the layups, Walker hit her second trifecta of the half and Moton completed a give-and-go with Walker to complete the run and tie the game at 30-30 with 1:28 left.


An offensive putback by Linda Aughburns put Asheville back on top, 32-30, and it would take that lead into halftime.

Walker led all scorers at the break with 12 points and also had six of Radford's 10 steals. Moton chipped in with eight points. Ana Baker and Jessica Monroe each netted seven points for the Bulldogs who shot 48 percent from the field.

“We did a good job on the defensive end, throwing a couple of different defenses that gave UNC Asheville some trouble,” stated Ngongba. “I was real proud of our effort on the defensive end.”

After Wood gave Radford a 35-34 lead on a baseline jumper at 17:03 of the second half, the Highlanders went the next 7:28 without scoring. Ana Baker scored six of the Bulldogs next eight points during Radford's drought to give the UNCA a 42-35 lead.

Junior Kymesha Alston (Hampton, Va./Manhattan) ended the drought with a layup at 9:35. She hit another layup and Moton hit a three from the right wing to get Radford within 44-42 at the 7:57 mark. After a UNCA bucket, Alston and Moton hit tough shots in the paint to knot the game at 46-46 at 5:38.

After UNCA regained the lead (48-46), Wood hit two free throws to tie the game (48-48) with 5:11 on the clock. The Bulldogs hit two free throws over the next five minutes take a two-point lead (50-48), setting up the exciting finish.

Radford concludes its four-game Big South road swing at Presbyterian on Monday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m.