BOX SCORE | ARCHIVED AUDIO

RADFORD, Va. – In a thrilling Big South women's basketball contest from the Dedmon Center, Radford was edged by first place Gardner-Webb, 84-80 in double overtime on Wednesday evening.

The game featured a late seven-point comeback by the Bulldogs (20-3, 9-1 Big South) and a near last second win by the Highlanders (5-15, 4-5) in regulation and seven ties and nine lead changes in the two extra sessions.

Five Highlanders recorded double figures led by junior Denay Wood's (Bailey's Crossroad, Va./Annandale) career-high 23 points to go along with eight rebounds and team-best three steals. Freshman Victoria Hamilton (St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands/Antilles School) registered her first collegiate double-double with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. She dished out a team-best five assists.

Margaret Roundtree paced four Bulldogs in double-figures with a game-high 24 points and a team-best nine boards. Courtney Epps tied Roundtree with nine rebounds and also added 14 points.

Keyed by a 13-2 first half run and Wood's perfect shooting half, Radford took a 33-28 into the lockerroom.

Radford, which missed its first six shots of the contest, finished the half shooting 36 percent (13-36) and was led by Wood's 5-for-5 performance from the floor, including a pair from beyond the arc for 14 points.

After a sluggish start by both teams, Gardner-Webb, who shot 34.5 percent in the first half, built a five-point lead (14:13) on a pair of free throws by Dominique Hudson at 14:13.

The Highlanders took their first lead of the game at 9:36 on a Hamilton mid-range jumper. After Gardner-Webb briefly regained the lead (19-18), Radford, behind five points from Wood, went on its 9-0 run to take 26-18 lead, its largest of the contest, with 5:01 left.

Trailing 33-28 at the break, Gardner-Webb opened the second half on an 18-8 run highlighted by 10 points from Roundtree, to retake the lead.

After falling behind 46-41 at the 12:01 mark, Radford outscored the Bulldogs' 19-8 over the next 7:51 to go back in front by seven, 60-53, with 4:19 left.

Following Gardner-Webb's 8-0 run to take a brief 61-60 lead, Radford regained the lead on senior Kymesha Alston's (Hampton, Va./Manhattan) layup with 43 seconds left. Monique Hudson responded with a layup of her own on a nice inbounds play at 29 seconds with her sister Dominique Hudson.

On Radford's ensuing possession, Hamilton grabbed a huge offensive rebound and laid it in with two ticks on the clock. On the play she was fouled, but her attempt bounced around and out sending the game into overtime, the first in head coach Tajama Abraham Ngongba's tenure (48th game) at Radford.

Each team scored eight points in the first overtime and had opportunities to win in the final 37 seconds before going to a second extra five minutes.

After Gardner-Webb took a three-point lead (79-76) with 2:30 left, Radford took its first lead of the second overtime scoring the next four points to take a short-lived 80-79 advantage with 48 seconds to go.

Epps drained a pair of charity tosses at 44 second to give the Bulldogs the lead for good. She would drain two more, putting GWU up 83-80 with 20 ticks left.

Wood had an opportunity to tie it, but her three was just strong and Roundtree hit one-of-two free throws to seal the victory.

Alston finished with 13 points and eight rebound, reaching the 800-point plateau in her collegiate career. Freshmen Da'Naria Erwin Spencer (Charlotte, N.C./East Mecklenburg) and Ashley Buckhannon (Wytheville, Va./George Wythe) contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Dominique Hudson and Sandra Vaitkute rounded out the Bulldogs' double figure scorers with 10 apiece. Monique Hudson chipped in with nine points to go along with a game-high seven assists and five steals.

Radford won the battle on the glass with a season-high 58 rebounds to Gardner-Webb's 45. However, the Bulldog's won the turnover battle, 25-18 which led to 24 points.

Radford hits the road on Saturday to take on Winthrop at 7 p.m.