RADFORD LOOKS TO KICK-OFF NEW YEAR IN WIN COLUMN AGAINST UNCA

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RADFORD, Va. – With a new year comes a fresh start and Radford women's basketball will take this mindset into Thursday's clash with UNC Asheville at 7:00 p.m. inside the Dedmon Center. Both squads will be looking to secure their first Big South victory of the season.

MEET THE BULLDOGS

♦ UNC Asheville will look to snap a four-game skid when it locks up with the Highlanders Thursday. The Bulldogs were swept by Radford in 2011-12.
♦ The lone victories of the season recorded by UNCA were against Montreat College and Columbia College.
♦ Shonese Jones is the lone Bulldog averaging in double figures at 14.6 points per game. Her scoring average ranks eighth in the Big South.
♦ Kelli Riles leads UNCA in rebounding at 10.5 caroms per outing, which ranks second in the league. Riles' nine rebounds against the Bulldogs' last opponent, High Point, moved her career total to 889 and into third place on the school's rebounding list.
♦ Asheville enters Thursday's tilt averaging 53.5 points per contest, while giving up 66.4 points per outing to its opponents.
♦ The Bulldogs' 35.2 field-goal percentage ranks last in the conference, as does their field-goal percentage defense (43.4).

HIGHLANDER HAPPENINGS

♦ Radford is led by Ashley Buckhannon in the scoring column at 12.6 per contest, while Victoria Hamilton crashes the boards for a team-best eight rebounds per outing.
♦ The Highlanders are efficient with their trips to the charity stripe, converting 73.4 percent of their attempts, which ranks second in the Big South.
♦ At 10.6 steals per game, Radford ranks third in the league, while leading the Big South in turnover margin (+2.45).

SERIES HISTORY

♦ Radford's second-longest active series is with the Bulldogs and the Highlanders lead 43-17. RU swept the two meetings last season with their rivals to the south. Radford won 72-62 at Kimmel Arena on Jan. 30 before prevailing 79-67 at home nearly a month later.

WHAT'S NEXT

♦ After enjoying a two-game return to the New River Valley, the Highlanders embark on a two-game road stretch. First up is a Jan. 10 contest at Gardner-Webb inside Paul Porter Arena. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT

♦ 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 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 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.

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