RADFORD, Va. – Behind a career-high 23 points from junior Kymesha Alston (Hampton, Va./Manhattan) and 21 points from senior Johnette Walker (Columbia, S.C./Irmo), Radford upended Gardner-Webb, 82-74, in its Big South Conference opener from Peters Hall, Monday evening.

Box Score

Alston, who set her previous career-high of 16 points exactly one year ago, was 9-for-10 from the field and pulled down a game-best nine rebounds. Walker, who matched a career-best with her 21 points, was 4-for-8 from three-point land and dished out a team-high four assists.

Dominique Hudson paced the Bulldogs (7-7, 0-2 BSC) with a team-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting and a game-best six helpers. Courtney Epps came off the GWU bench to tally 15 points.

Both teams had a good night from the floor as the Bulldogs shot 51 percent and the Highlanders 48 percent. Gardner-Webb won a tight battle on the glass, 35-32. LaTroya Pope led GWU with eight caroms, with Epps pulling down five. Junior Davida Dodson (Silver Spring, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) tied a career-best with five rebounds for the Highlanders.

The Highlanders (2-10, 1-0 Big South) took control of a back-and-forth final 12 minutes with a 9-1 spurt that gave them a 72-65 lead with three minutes to go. Sophomore Taleia Moton (Fort Washington, Md./Suitland) jump-started the run answering a Bulldog three with her only triple of the contest, giving Radford the lead for good (66-64) with 4:37 left in the game. Moton scored 16 of her 17 points in the second half.

After a free throw from Epps cut Radford's lead to 66-65, senior Vandy Pullen (Arlington, Va./Maine) drained two freebees, and followed an Alston layup with a easy bucket of her own to push the lead to seven.

The Bulldogs got within four (78-74) on a Hudson trifecta with 36 seconds left, but Walker hit four free throws down the stretch to ice the game.

Pullen was the fourth Highlander in double figures with 10 points. Margaret Roundtree and Laura Povilonyte also hit for double figures, netting 13 and 12 points, respectively for the Bulldogs.

After Radford took a 12-8 lead 4:46 into the game, Gardner-Webb went on a 14-2 run to go up 22-14 at 10:42. Epps and Hudson scored four points each during the run, while the Bulldog defense held the Highlanders scoreless for over four minutes at the start of it.

The Bulldogs pushed their lead to as much as nine points (29-20) before the Highlanders closed out the final 2:36 on an 11-6 run to get within 35-31 at the half. Both teams shot 50 percent in the first stanza.

Gardner-Webb pushed its lead to seven points (50-43) after the second of Povilonyte's three-pointers at the 14:57 mark of the second half. Radford responded with an 8-0 spurt to take a brief 51-50 lead at 11:52.

Including that bucket, there were four ties and four lead changes with the final one coming on Moton's three that gave Radford the lead for good.

Radford begins a four-game Big South road swing on Saturday, Jan. 10 when it travels to High Point for a 4 p.m. tip.