RADFORD VISITS SOUTH CAROLINA SHORE FOR BATTLE WITH LADY BUCS

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RADFORD, Va. – Coming off a huge road win at High Point last Saturday, the Radford women's basketball team will continue its four-game span away from home when the Highlanders clash with Charleston Southern on Thursday, Jan. 31 at 7:00 p.m. inside Buccaneer Field House.

MEET THE LADY BUCS

♦ Thursday's contest features the top-two squads in the league in free-throw efficiency. CSU (6-12, 1-8 Big South) leads the Big South at 74.4 percent from the charity stripe, while the Highlanders are right behind at 73 percent.
♦ Offensively, the Lady Bucs rank eighth in the conference in scoring offense at 60.2 points per game. On the defensive side of the ball, CSU is 10th out of 11 squads by allowing 67.7 points an outing.
♦ Averaging 6.2 3-pointers per game, the Lady Bucs rank third in the Big South.
♦ Lakeitha Alston puts up 15.1 points a contest, which leads CSU and is the sixth-best scoring average in the league. DJ Fowler drops in 10.3 a game to rank 21st in the Big South, while Erin Bratcher's 10.2 scoring average is 22nd in the conference.
♦ Alston paces the rebounding efforts for the Lady Bucs, pulling down 6.1 boards each time out.
♦ CSU dropped its first encounter with the Highlanders this season, 71-60, on Jan. 19 inside the Dedmon Center.

HIGHLANDER HAPPENINGS

♦ Radford (11-7, 6-3 Big South) is led by Ashley Buckhannon in the scoring column at 12.5 per contest (12th-best in conference), while Victoria Hamilton crashes the boards for a team-best 7.7 rebounds per outing (ranks sixth in the league). Buckhannon (2.7) and Hamilton (2.4) rank second and fifth, respectively, in the Big South in steals. Buckhannon is only 16 points away from becoming the 20th member of Radford women's basketball's 1,000-point club.
♦ The Highlanders are efficient with their trips to the charity stripe, converting 73 percent of their attempts, which ranks second in the Big South.
♦ At 11.7 steals per game, Radford ranks second in the league, while ranking first in the Big South in turnover margin (+3.8).

SERIES HISTORY

♦ Radford owns the all-time series with CSU, 42-17. The Highlanders hold a 15-12 edge in contests played away from the Dedmon Center against the Lady Bucs.

WHAT'S NEXT

♦ Following Thursday's matchup, Radford heads north to Conway, S.C. for a Feb. 2 contest against Coastal Carolina inside The HTC Center, site of the 2013 VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Women's Basketball Tournament. Action gets underway at 4:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT

♦ After grabbing its first double-figure lead in the second half, Radford women's basketball had to fend off a furious High Point comeback that allowed the Panthers to reclaim the lead, but the Highlanders held on for the crucial 64-55 Big South victory Saturday evening at the Millis Center.
♦ For the second straight outing, Da'Naria Erwin Spencer led the Highlanders (11-7, 6-3 Big South) with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting to go along with a 7-for-10 performance from the charity stripe.
♦ Ayana Avery played phenomenal in front of her home crowd, torching the nets for 10 points, which included two critical 3-pointers in response to High Point's second-half surge. Ashia Holmes was credited with a career-high-tying four assists.
♦ Coming in as the third-best team in the Big South in rebounding (43.8), High Point was held to just 37 (tied for the fourth-fewest this season) while RU hauled in 40. Jordynn Gaymon led the way in the rebounding department for the Highlanders with eight.
♦ Trailing 43-31 with 15:20 remaining in the contest, HPU put together a game-changing rally. Tremblay's free throws at the 14:58 mark fueled a 16-2 streak capped by a Lexi Patterson layup that pushed the Panthers ahead, 47-45, with 7:44 remaining.
♦ Following a Parker scoop shot that gave the hosts their last lead at 51-49, RU went on a 10-2 run featuring two bombs from deep by Avery that halted High Point's comeback and propelled the Highlanders in front, 59-53, at the 3:29 mark. Going 5-for-8 from the charity stripe down the stretch, Radford was able to hold on for its sixth win in the last seven outings.

LAST MEETING WITH CHARLESTON SOUTHERN

♦ Behind a season-best 52.8 percent clip from the hardwood and Radford's ferocious defense causing 28 Charleston Southern turnovers, the Highlanders gutted out a 71-60 Big South decision Jan. 19 inside the Dedmon Center to up their win streak to five.
♦ Ayana Avery chalked up 15 points to lead three double-figure scorers for Radford (10-6, 5-2 Big South). Ashley Buckhannon and Da'Naria Erwin Spencer dropped in 12 and 10 points, respectively, while Victoria Hamilton handed out a career-high-tying six assists for the second straight game. Buckhannon added six assists and four steals to her stat line.
♦ Erwin Spencer moved into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time career-scoring chart with 1,239. She passed Johnette Walker (1,238) with her performance Saturday.
♦ Once again, Radford relied on its superb defense to create its offense. Nearly half of the Highlanders' points came from capitalizing on CSU's mistakes—Radford held a 35-13 advantage in points off turnovers. Continuing with their dominance in the paint, the Highlanders edged the visitors, 32-26, in points scored in the lane.
♦ Following an Anicia Dotson free throw to tie the game for the fourth occasion at the 13:02 mark of the second stanza, Hamilton drained a baseline-jumper to ignite a 16-4 surge that gave RU a 54-42 lead with 6:28 showing on the clock.
♦ CSU was able to shred its deficit to six (58-52) at the 4:01 mark, but the Highlanders scored the next five points to restore their double-figure margin and cruise in from there. With the win, Radford improves to 6-2 in home competition this season.

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