LANCERS STAGE SECOND-HALF COMEBACK TO DOWN RADFORD, 57-49

BOX SCORE RADFORD, Va. – Longwood used a 22-2 run spanning over eight minutes in the second stanza to build a double-digit lead late in the game and was able to hold off Radford down the stretch as the Highlanders fell, 57-49, to the Lancers in Big South women's basketball action inside the Dedmon Center Saturday evening.

Ashley Buckhannon contributed a game-high 20 points on 5-of-14 shooting. It was the second time this season Buckhannon broke the 20-point plateau. Jordynn Gaymon finished with six points and a team-high eight boards. Radford (5-6, 0-2 Big South) shot 29.6 percent from the hardwood, but managed to connect on 76.5 percent (13-17) from the charity stripe.

Chelsea Coward paced the Lancers (4-8, 1-0 Big South) with 19 points on 6-of-18 shooting to go along with a game-high 12 rebounds. Daeisha Brown joined Coward in double figures with 18 points and 10 caroms. Longwood's victory marked the first Division I conference win in program history.

After Radford established a 32-26 lead just five minutes into the second half, the visitors' defense clamped down. The Highlanders' only field goal over the next eight minutes and change was a tip-in from Kiera McIvor, which allowed Longwood to put together a 22-2 rally to claim its largest advantage of the contest at 48-36 with 6:45 left.

A Coward layup with 30 seconds remaining gave the Lancers a 53-43 advantage. On RU's ensuing possession, Buckhannon was fouled shooting a trey. The Wytheville, Va. native went to the line and converted all three.

On the inbounds pass Coward was called for crossing the line, which turned the ball over to the Highlanders. Ayana Avery immediately took possession of the ball and inbounded it to Buckhannon who canned a triple to bring Radford to within 53-49.

This was as close as the hosts could get as Longwood connected on four free throws in the waning seconds to provide the final margin.

“Our defense fuels our offense and today that did not happen,” commented head coach Tajama Abraham Ngongba. “We score a great deal of our points in transition, but Longwood was able to keep us in a half-court offense for most of the game.”

Both teams struggled to find the scoring column early on as Buckhannon's trifecta at the 15:37 mark provided the contest's first field goal to give the Highlanders a 4-1 edge. The senior sharpshooter drilled her second deep ball of the day with 9:09 showing on the clock to extend RU's advantage to 13-7.

Radford snared its largest lead of the opening stanza following a layup by Gaymon to put the hosts on top, 17-9, with 6:41 left before intermission. From there, the Lancers mounted a 9-0 surge to tie the game at 17.

A La-She' Walker jumper as time expired in the first frame was the difference as the two teams went into break with Radford leading 23-22.

RU held the higher shooting percentage at the break (36 percent), while holding the Lancers to 25 percent. The Highlanders also led the rebounding category, 22-16.

Next up for Radford is a Jan. 3 tilt with UNC Asheville inside the Dedmon Center. The Highlanders swept the season series with the Bulldogs in 2011-12.

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