FOY’S CAREER DAY VAULTS RADFORD OVER WILLIAM & MARY, 72-55

BOX SCORE RADFORD, Va. – Freshman Aisha Foy erupted for a season-high 16 points as Radford women's basketball returned to its winning ways Saturday evening inside the Dedmon Center with a 72-55 victory over William & Mary.

“I have been waiting for Aisha [Foy] to shine like she did tonight,” expressed head coach Tajama Abraham Ngongba. “She went out and performed like our staff knows she can.”

Foy, whose previous season-high was four points against Southern Illinois two weeks ago, did most of her damage from behind the arc. The Virginia Beach, Va. native dropped four bombs from deep and connected on all four of her free-throw attempts.

Sophomore Ayana Avery paced four Highlanders (4-4) in double figures with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Seniors Ashley Buckhannon and Da'Naria Erwin Spencer rang up 14 and 12 points, respectively, while also tallying five thefts apiece. Victoria Hamilton reeled in a game-high 10 rebounds for the home squad.

Preseason All-CAA pick Emily Correal did everything she could to keep the Tribe (2-6) in the contest with her career-high 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting. The senior went 8-for-8 from the charity stripe to go along with a team-high six rebounds, a career-high five steals, four assists, and a block.

Radford shot 38.7 percent (24-of-62) from the floor, while holding the visitors to 36 percent (18-of-50). W&M becomes the fifth opponent the Highlanders have held under 40-percent shooting for the season.

RU showed tremendous hustle in winning the battle of the boards over the much taller Tribe, 44-31. The Highlanders cashed in 21 William & Mary turnovers into 23 points. Led by Avery and Foy, Radford outscored the Tribe's bench by an overwhelming margin of 33 (39-6).

"I thought our team did a tremendous job being patient on offense, something we knew we needed to improve upon after our last game. The extra time allowed us to penetrate and dish out for better looks instead of rushing them like we did at North Carolina.”

Down by three with 13:50 to go until intermission, Avery swished home a triple to ignite a 13-3 surge that propelled Radford in front for the remainder of the game. W&M got to within four (17-13) with 7:06 left in the first frame, but the Highlanders responded with another run to go up 34-23 with just over a minute to play.

After a missed layup by Janine Aldridge with three seconds left, Hamilton quickly hauled in the carom and hit Avery, who was streaking to mid-court. With one second on the clock, the sophomore sharpshooter heaved a half-court prayer that was answered at the buzzer to bring the crowd to its feet as the hosts possessed a 37-23 advantage at intermission.

After RU established a 17-point lead (61-44) with 7:04 showing on the clock, the Tribe mounted an 11-1 comeback to cut their deficit to seven (62-55) with 2:41 to go in the game. From there, the Highlanders countered with a 10-0 response to seal the win.

Up next for Radford is a date with Norfolk State, Thursday, Dec. 13 at 7:00 p.m. to wrap up the Highlanders' two-game homestand. RU won 80-68 over the Spartans last season behind 20 points from Erwin Spencer.

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