RADFORD HOLDS OFF BLUE HOSE, REACHES SEMIFINALS FOR SECOND YEAR IN A ROW

BOX SCORE CONWAY, S.C. – In what has become the standard in their rivalry, Radford and Presbyterian College were locked in another defensive battle Friday afternoon. Nonetheless, the Highlanders prevailed, 41-38, in the quarterfinals of the VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Women's Basketball Tournament held at The HTC Center.

After watching seventh-seeded Longwood upset second-seeded Winthrop, RU used some of its fellow in-state rival's momentum to set up an all-Commonwealth semifinal Saturday at 6:00 p.m.

The Lancers (13-18) and the Highlanders (16-13) will meet for the third time this season with each side recording a win. Longwood is making its first appearance in the semifinals, while Radford advances to the semifinals for the second year in a row.

Backing up her career-high-tying 14 points two days ago, freshman Diani Mason poured in 12 against the Blue Hose to take team-high honors. Joining Mason in double figures was Sarah Tabb, who put up 10 points and nine rebounds. Victoria Hamilton was credited with a game-high five steals.

Leading PC was Shonda Burnside with a game-high 14 points. Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year Karlee Taylor dropped in eight points in addition to her team-high three steals.

“Presbyterian College is a very well-coached team,” head coach Tajama Abraham Ngongba said. “Ronny [Fisher] does a great job with his players. I'm very proud of how our team gutted out this win today. It was a very physical, emotional game, but we did a great job of keeping our composure down the stretch. We did a good job rebounding and on the defensive end to get this win.”

With both teams hovering around the 20 percent shooting mark for the opening 20 minutes of action, Radford was able to make a late push to take the 20-15 edge at the break. Leading 11-10 at the 7:30 mark, the Highlanders outscored PC 9-3 over the next six minutes and change to build their largest first-half lead of seven, 20-13, with 57 second to go.

Burnside connected on two buckets out of intermission to trim the Blue Hose's deficit to 20-19 less than two minutes into the final frame. From there, RU mounted a 17-7 surge to stake a 37-26 with 9:59 remaining following a Hamilton jumper from just inside the 3-point arc.

That Hamilton deuce, however, was the final field goal Radford made in the game. Despite PC pulling to within one (39-38) with 23 seconds left, the Highlanders' defense remained solid.

The Blue Hose had a chance of completing the comeback, but Radford got the stop it needed and Breshara Gordon calmly stepped to the line and buried the critical free throws to provide the final margin.

Although the Highlanders shot 25 percent from the floor, they put on a rebounding clinic (48-29). Radford's 49 rebounds led to an 11-6 edge in second-chance points.

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