RADFORD STARTS OFF 2015 AGAINST BUCCANEERS INSIDE DEDMON

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RADFORD, Va. – The Radford women's basketball team opens a busy week Monday at 7 p.m. when the Highlanders host Charleston Southern in a Big South contest inside the Dedmon Center. The game marks the first of three games this week for RU, which will play Thursday and Saturday as well.

RADFORD ROUNDUP
Coming off a road triumph at Gardner-Webb last Tuesday, the Highlanders (4-8, 1-2 Big South) will be seeking to climb to .500 in league action with their second straight win.

With a victory, Radford would open the New Year in the win column for the sixth time in the past seven seasons. A win would also give the Highlanders back-to-back triumphs for the first time since Feb. 2014.

On the strength of her seventh double-digit scoring output of the season, senior Ayana Avery paces the offense with her 11.1 points per game. She is the Highlanders' top threat from beyond the arc. The 5-foot-5 guard has a team-high 29 3-pointers through 12 contests. Her 2.4 3-pointers per game rank second in the Big South.

Junior guard Aisha Foy has asserted herself on the offensive end in Radford's last three games, averaging 16.3 points per game. She delivered a career-high 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting at Gardner-Webb.

Over in the rebounding department, senior Jordynn Gaymon pulls down 8.0 caroms per contest. Her average ranks eighth in the conference. Freshman Janayla White is right behind with her 6.9 average, which ranks 10th. On top of her rebounding, White ranks sixth in the Big South in blocks per game, rejecting 1.5 shots per outing.

Paced by Avery's .354 clip from long range, Radford leads the Big South in 3-point field goal percentage (.324). Avery is one of three Highlanders who average over 35 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

RU has won six of the previous eight encounters with Charleston Southern to build a 44-18 advantage in the head-to-head series. However, the Buccaneers handed Radford an 84-64 loss inside the Dedmon Center last season.

SCOUTING CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
The Buccaneers (3-8, 0-3 Big South) come to the Dedmon Center having lost three in a row and eight of their last nine. CSU fell to Winthrop, 79-50, Saturday afternoon at home.

A key concern for Radford will be limiting its turnovers against the Big South leader in steals. The Bucs average 12 steals per game, which rank 14^th nationally. In addition, CSU tops the league in turnover margin (+3.00). Meanwhile, the Highlanders are last in the conference in steals per game (6.00) and turnover margin (-6.17).

The 3-point line will be a deciding factor as well, considering RU leads the league in 3-point field goal percentage, while Charleston Southern ranks second in the Big South in defending the 3-ball (.291).

Tatum Jarvis, who has yet to earn a start, comes off the bench to lead the Bucs in scoring at 11.7 points per game. She is the lone double-figure scorer for CSU.

Alise Karlsone provides an outside threat for the Bucs. The 6-foot Latvian is 17-of-41 (.415) from beyond the arc.

UP NEXT
The Highlanders hit the road to close the week, traveling to Presbyterian (Thursday at 5 p.m.) and Longwood (Saturday at 2 p.m.) for a pair of conference collisions.

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Players Mentioned

#5 Ayana Avery: G; 5' 5"; Senior

#3 Aisha Foy: G; 5' 6"; Junior

#24 Jordynn Gaymon: F; 6' 1"; Senior

#21 Janayla White: F; 6' 2"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#5 Ayana Avery
: 5' 5"; Senior
: G

#3 Aisha Foy
: 5' 6"; Junior
: G

#24 Jordynn Gaymon
: 6' 1"; Senior
: F

#21 Janayla White
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: F