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HIGH POINT, N.C. –Dominique Hudson's three-point play with 8:20 left put sixth-seeded Gardner-Webb ahead to stay and lift the Runnin' Bulldogs to a 61-50 win in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Advance Auto Parts Women's Basketball Championship Friday.

Gardner-Webb advances to the Semifinals and will play the winner of No. 2 High Point/No. 7 UNC Asheville Saturday afternoon at 4:00pm.

Leading up to Hudson's bucket, Gardner-Webb gained the momentum behind a 13-7 run in the first eight minutes of the second half to move ahead by six points, 35-29 on Roundtree's jumper.  But the Highlanders came back and re-took the lead at 36-35 on junior Davida Dodson's (Silver Spring, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) three-pointer with 11:05 remaining. 

Gardner-Webb later tied the game at 39-39 at the 8:31 mark before Hudson's traditional three-point play gave the Runnin' Bulldogs the lead for good just seconds later.

GWU increased its lead to 10 points following a 9-2 run over the next six minutes before pulling out the eventual 11-point victory. 

Margaret Roundtree led Gardner-Webb with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Hudson added 12 markers.  LaTroya Pope also collected nine rebounds for GWU.  As a team, Gardner-Webb finished 18-of-43 from the floor and 23-of-27 from the free throw line (85.2 percent). 

Sophomore Taleia Moton (Fort Washington, Md./Suitland) was Radford's top scorer with 14 points, while redshirt junior Kymesha Alston (Hampton, Va./Manhattan) posted a double-double with 10 points and game-high 17 rebounds – including 11 on the offensive glass. 

The Highlanders shot just 24.3 percent from the floor (17-of-70), but out-rebounded Gardner-Webb, 49-36.

After Radford grabbed an early 8-2 lead, Gardner-Webb came back and took its first lead of the game at 15:03 on a Roundtree layup that made the score 9-8. 

Radford regained the lead on the next play when Moton connected on a short jumper.  The teams traded baskets, but the Highlanders managed to stay ahead by 1-3 points during the next seven minutes and held an 18-15 advantage with 7:43 remaining in the first half.

Radford stretched its lead to five points (22-17) at 3:58 on Alston's layup, but Gardner-Webb ended the half with a 5-0 run to tie the game at 22-22 entering intermission. 

Both teams struggled from the floor in the first half, as Radford was 6-of-28 (21.4 percent) and Gardner-Webb 10-of-29 (34.5).  However, Radford was 10-of-11 from the free throw line, while Gardner-Webb did not reach the charity stripe in the first 20 minutes. 

(From Big South Conference Reports)

POST-GAME QUOTES

Head coach Tajama Ngongba's opening statement:

"I was proud of the toughness our team showed tonight.  It was a physical game, and I thought we didn't back down with our physicality.  We kept playing strong, but just couldn't finish shots.  There are nights where the ball just doesn't fall, and tonight was ours.  I think our team's effort was good, we kept getting into the paint and getting deep shots.  I was proud of our seniors Vandy Pullen and Johnette Walker, I thought they had gutsy performances tonight.  Taleia Moton played hard, so did Kymesha Alston... I thought everyone played hard, but when the lid's on the rim, there's not much you can do.

Ngongba on Gardner-Webb's defensive strategy:

"I think their defense was solid, but our team was expecting the switches between 3-2, 2-3 and man defense, and they were ready for that.  We got the shots where we wanted them, but they just didn't fall, or we didn't use the outside hand when we needed to, maybe went inside hand, but I was proud of where we took our shots.  It was just a matter of finishing. 

Ngongba on the season:

"There was a lot of learning this season.  I think the biggest thing is that as a head coach, you have a lot of ideas coming into a program, and when you are able to size up the players, you realize that you have to re-adjust the thinking to the team you have to work with.  We were a team with a lot of success in the way they did things before, but we got around to buying in and being able to execute our system.  For me, it was a huge learning experience.