BOX SCORE

RADFORD, Va. – Radford fell at home to Virginia Commonwealth, 79-49, Thursday afternoon from the Dedmon Center. Erica Rivera led the Highlanders with 11 points and a career-high five steals.

Junior Da'Naria Erwin Spencer added 10 points and five thefts, while senior Denay Wood pulled down a team-best eight rebounds for the Highlanders (3-9).

VCU's Courtney Hurt recorded her 10th straight double-double for the Rams (5-5) with a game-high 16 points and 11 rebounds. Sonia Johnson matched her for a game-high with 16 points and also pulled down eight rebounds.

A 12-0 run by VCU broke an eight-all deadlock and keyed VCU to 37-25 halftime lead. The Rams, after a slow start from the field (2-10), shot 46 percent in the half, while the Highlanders hit just 32 percent (8-25) of their shots. Radford's Rivera and Erwin Spencer, along with VCU's Andrea Barbour each scored a half-high eight points.

The Highlanders fell behind early (4-0), but were able to battle back and tie the game twice (6-6 & 8-8), before VCU's game-changing run gave it a 20-8 lead at the 8:26 mark.

Radford cut its deficit to 24-17 on back-to-back buckets by Rivera, but the Rams went on an 11-3 run to give them their largest lead (35-20) of the half.

The Highlanders hit their first two shots of the second half to get within 10 points, but the Rams went on a 15-0 run to put the game out of reach just seven minutes into the stanza.

Radford finished the game shooting 30 percent. The Highlanders did force 22 turnovers, but turned it over 25 times. VCU shot 45.6 percent, including 50 percent (6-12) from long range. The Rams also held a significant advantage on the glass, 49-28, and each team recorded 17 steals.

Radford returns to the Dedmon Center after the Christmas holiday on Dec. 30 to host Richmond at 5 p.m.