HIGHLANDERS THROW BLOCK PARTY ON SENIOR DAY

BOX SCORE RADFORD, Va. – Many fans came to the Dedmon Center knowing it was Senior Day. What they did not know was Radford was prepared to host a block party as the Highlanders totaled a season-best 10 rejections to highlight stellar defensive play that fueled them to the 70-64 triumph over Gardner-Webb in Big South women's basketball action Saturday afternoon.

“Our leadership was incredible out there today,” head coach Tajama Abraham Ngongba said. “Gardner-Webb is a scrappy team and for us to be able to get the win will boost our confidence heading to Myrtle Beach next week.”

With the win, Radford garners the sixth seed in next week's 2013 VisitMyrtleBeach.com Women's Basketball Tournament and will square off with 11th-seeded UNC Asheville at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6. The winner advances to play Presbyterian College on Friday, March 8 at 2:00 p.m. All games are being played at The HTC Center on the campus of Coastal Carolina.

Making her last time in the Dedmon Center one to remember was Ashley Buckhannon, who dropped in a season-high 23 points on 6-of-14 shooting and was 8-for-8 from the charity stripe to lead the Highlanders (14-13, 9-9 Big South). Ranked second in the conference in steals per game (2.69), the Wytheville, Va. native collected a career-high-tying six thefts on the day.

Fellow backcourt mate Victoria Hamilton finished off the regular season with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go along with a career-high-tying six assists and five rebounds. The day did not belong all to the seniors as freshman Aisha Foy stole some of the spotlight by drilling three 3-pointers for nine points. Diani Mason also represented the rookie class well with eight points, two assists and two steals.

Overcoming its shooting slump from Thursday, Radford connected on 24-of-57 (42.1 percent). In addition to its block total, Radford exchanged 22 Runnin' Bulldog turnovers into 29 points. The Highlanders' bench was phenomenal as well, outscoring the opposition 23-9.

Gardner-Webb (12-17, 5-13 Big South) was able to remain in striking distance, however, with advantages in points in the paint (34-20) and second-chance scores (22-9), thanks to a 53-31 edge on the boards.

Playing a large part in those decisive margins was Catrina Green, who finished with a career-high 23 points and 14 rebounds to record her 10th double-double of the season. Candace Brown also crossed into double digits with 18 points, in addition to 10 rebounds.

Along with seven points each from Buckhannon and Hamilton, Foy drilled two triples in the opening stanza to grab a 33-25 lead at intermission.

Green knocked down a pair of free throws at the 17:32 mark to pull the Runnin' Bulldogs within 5-2. From there, Radford used a 17-5 spurt to widen its lead to 22-7 at the 10:07 mark.

The Highlanders went on to score four points over the next seven minutes to allow Gardner-Webb to trim its deficit to six, 26-20. Both squads battled back and forth for the remainder of the half before RU set the halftime margin at eight.

Radford led by as many as 10 (45-35) in the beginning stages of the second stanza. GWU countered with an 8-2 surge to close to within 47-43 at the 14:34 mark. Following a Hamilton jumper, the Highlanders were back on top by nine (65-56) with 2:22 showing on the clock.

Buckhannon and Mason went a combined 5-of-6 from the line in the waning moments to seal Radford's season sweep of the Runnin' Bulldogs.

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