RADFORD, Va. – In Radford's 1,000th basketball game in program history, sophomore Taleia Moton (Fort Washington, Md.) scored a career-high 28 points and the Highlanders recorded the first 10 points of the second half to complete a 14-point comeback and defeat Charleston Southern, 76-67, Monday evening from the Dedmon Center. The victory propelled Radford (6-12, 5-2 Big South) into third place in the conference.

Box Score

Coming off a career-best 20-point performance against Coastal Carolina on Saturday, Moton went 8-for-12 from the field, including 5-for-7 from long distance, and 7-for-10 from the free throw line for her first back-to-back 20-point games of her career. She also had five assists and four rebounds.

Ali Schwagmeyer led the Buccaneers with a 20-point night, going 9-of-13 from the floor and pulling down a team-high nine rebounds.

Trailing by four (43-39) at the break, Radford came out of the lockerroom on fire, scoring the first 10 points to spark a 16-2 run that gave it a 55-45 lead just 4:46 in. Moton started the run scoring four of the first six points and then capped it off with her fifth trifecta of the game at 15:14.

“We came out of the lockerroom focused and determined,” said head coach Tajama Ngongba. “We didn't force things and get frustrated when we were down early. We stayed relaxed and slowly were able get back into the game against a well coached Charleston Southern ball club.”

The Buccaneers rebounded from the early run and used a 7-0 spurt to cut the Highlanders' lead to three (57-54) with 10:45 remaining. Charleston Southern stayed within striking distance over the next two minutes, before Radford scored six straight points, the final four on a couple of steals and layups, to extend its lead to 68-58 with 3:39 remaining.

“Once we were in the lead, I thought we did a good job of staying composed, especially from the free throw line,” commented Ngongba.

The Highlanders, who shot 52 percent in the second half, survived one last push by the Buccaneers by hitting six of eight free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Joining Moton in double figures was junior Kymesha Alston (Hampton, Va./Manhattan) who recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds and senior Vandy Pullen (Arlington, Va./Maine) chipping in with 10 points and five steals.

Pam Tolbert and Kelsey Wasmer added 15 and 14 points, respectively for the Buccaneers.

Radford shot 49 percent for the game, hitting 43.5 percent (10-23) of its three-pointers and 70 percent (14-20) from the line. CSU shot 48 percent from the floor and 42 percent (10-24) from three-point land.

The first half was a three-point barrage as the teams combined to hit 17 three balls as Charleston Southern raced out to an early lead and held on for a four-point advantage (43-39) at the half. The Bucs shot 64 percent (9-14) from three-point land and 57 percent from the field (17-30), while Radford shot 47 percent from the floor and long-distance.

The Buccaneers raced out of the gates, hitting seven of their first eight threes to grab a 33-19 lead at 8:38. Tolbert and Wasmer each hit three long-range bombs to spark the early start for CSU.

Behind five threes, Radford went on a 17-4 run to get within one (37-36) with just under two minutes to go in the half. Moton hit three, highlighted by a four-point play, and Walker drained two, helping Radford back into the game.

Schwagmeyer and Wasmer hit back-to-back trifectas to push CSU's lead to 43-36 before Moton hit her fourth of the game, putting Radford within striking distance going into the break.

Radford will be off until next Monday, Feb. 2 when it travels to Lynchburg, Va. for a 7 p.m. tilt at Liberty. Charleston Southern returns home from its five-game road swing, hosting Presbyterian on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 5:30 p.m.