ALL-COMMONWEALTH SEMIFINAL IN STORE FOR RADFORD AND LONGWOOD

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MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Two squads from the Commonwealth of Virginia, separated by just under 150 miles, will hookup in the semifinals of the 2013 VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Women's Basketball Tournament at The HTC Center Saturday evening. The third meeting between Longwood and Radford this season is set to tip at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN3.

MEET THE LANCERS

♦ Longwood has won four of its previous five contests, including two straight to reach the semifinals of the conference tournament for the first time in program history.
♦ Crystal Smith (15.1) leads three Lancers in double-digit scoring. Her average ranks fifth in the Big South Conference. Chelsea Coward and Daeisha Brown provide the other double-figure performers at 14.7 and 12.5 points per game, respectively.
♦ Coward also leads LU in rebounding at 8.2 caroms per outing.
♦ The Lancers enter Saturday's tilt averaging 64.8 points per contest (fifth-best in the league), while giving up 71.5 points per outing to their opponents (last in the Big South).
♦ While its offense carries a 36.4 percent shooting clip, Longwood's defense holds its opposition to an average of 42.0 percent from the hardwood.
♦ The Lancers are a threat from beyond the arc, ranking second in the league with an average of 6.5 3-pointers made per game.

HIGHLANDER HAPPENINGS

♦ Radford is led by Ashley Buckhannon in the scoring column at 12.8 per contest (10th-best in conference), while Victoria Hamilton crashes the boards for a team-best 7.9 rebounds per outing (ranks sixth in the league). Buckhannon (2.7) and Hamilton (2.2) rank second and 10th, respectively, in the Big South in steals. Buckhannon became the 20th member of Radford women's basketball's 1,000-point club against Campbell on Feb. 7.
♦ At 10.9 steals per game, Radford ranks second in the league, in addition to ranking third in turnover margin (+2.59).

SERIES HISTORY

♦ Radford snapped a three-game losing streak in the series last time these two squads met, improving to 18-11 all-time against the Lancers. RU is 12-5 all-time in semifinal contests at the Big South Tournament.

WHAT'S NEXT

♦ With a win, the Highlanders will make their 13th appearance in the Big South title game. There waiting will either be fifth-seeded Campbell or No. 1 seed Liberty.

LAST TIME OUT

♦ 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.

POSTSEASON ACCOLADES

♦ Ashley Buckhannon, a senior guard for Radford women's basketball, was selected to the All-Big South Second Team as announced by the conference office Monday. It was Buckhannon's first Big South postseason honor.
♦ The Wytheville, Va. native led the Highlanders in scoring at 13.3 points per game, which ranks 10th in the league. In addition to her scoring average, Buckhannon finished prominently in the Big South player rankings: 10th in assists per game (3.26), second in steals per game (2.81), seventh in 3-point field-goal percentage (.302), seventh in 3-pointers per game (1.81) and third in assist/turnover ratio (1.22).
♦ Her brilliant season allowed the sports medicine major to ascend into the program's record books. In addition to becoming the 20th member of the 1,000-point club at Radford, Buckhannon ranks ninth in assists (257), sixth in steals (215) and third in 3-pointers made (156). Appearing in 108 contests with 62 starts, the senior chalked up 1,119 points, which is 15th all-time in program history.
♦ Along with Buckhannon's postseason honors, fellow senior Katherine Brockett was named to the Big South all-academic team.

LAST MEETING WITH LONGWOOD

♦ Behind Victoria Hamilton's third double-double of the season and a late surge in the second half, Radford women's basketball was able to return to the winner's circle with a 60-46 triumph over Longwood Thursday night at Willett Hall.
♦ By dropping in 14 points and scooping up 12 rebounds, Hamilton collected her fifth career double-double for the Highlanders. Ashley Buckhannon tallied 13 points, including 10 in the final 20 minutes. La-She' Walker came up big in the post, pouring in a career-high nine points in addition to six rebounds.
♦ Along with Walker, Sarah Tabb and Jordynn Gaymon narrowly missed double-figure scoring as well, contributing nine points apiece. In addition to 38.9 percent shooting, Radford out-rebounded the Lancers 46-34 and held a 28-16 edge in points scored in the paint. Of the 21 field goals scored by the Highlanders, 14 were off of assists.
♦ Longwood received three double-digit scoring efforts, led by Chelsea Coward's double-double (12 points and 10 rebounds). Mieke Elkington and Crystal Smith chalked up 10 points each for the hosts, who forced RU into 16 turnovers. Finishing with 26.8 percent accuracy from the floor, the Lancers became the second opponent Radford held under 30 percent shooting this season.

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