RADFORD HOLDS ON FOR 68-60 WIN AT WAKE FOREST

Saturday, December 10

Winston-Salem, N.C.

2:00 PM

Radford University

7-1

Wake Forest

7-3

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Radford	14	13	26	15	68
Wake Forest	13	12	19	16	60

Photo by: Red Rocket Productions & Photography

12/10/2016 7:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

GAME INFORMATION

Score: Radford 68, Wake Forest 60
Records: Highlanders (7-1) | Demon Deacons (7-3)
Location: LJVM Coliseum | Winston-Salem, N.C.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Radford earned its first win against Power 5 opponent since 2007 and the first of head coach Mike McGuire's career as the Highlanders held on for a 68-60 victory over Wake Forest, Saturday afternoon in the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Wake Forest was the Highlanders last win over a ACC and Power 5 foe as Radford came away with a 52-44 win on Dec. 16, 2007.

Janayla White earned her first double-double on the season with an 18-point, 11-rebound effort. Destinee Walker followed with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Khiana Johnson followed with 13 points.

Radford opened the contest with a 5-1 lead on a White layup and Walker jumper, White added a free throw at the 7:23 mark to extend the lead to four points.

After two free throws from Amber Campbell to tie the game at five, Radford went on a fast 8-2 run. White contributed three points during the run and Johnson found a wide-open Jen Falconer for a 3-pointer to give the Highlanders a 13-7 lead with 3:01 remaining in the opening quarter.

Wake Forest held the Highlanders scoreless from the remainder of the quarter, using a 6-1 run to pull within 14-13.

The second quarter saw the Highlanders miss their first three shots as Wake Forest regained a 16-14 lead. Jayda Worthy ended Radford's 5:34 scoreless drought as Claudia Quevedo found a cutting Worthy at the free throw line. Worthy used a pump fake and drive to tie the game at 16 at the 7:27 mark.

One minute later, Johnson forced a Demon Deacon turnover as Falconer scooped up the loose ball, taking it the rest of the way for a layup as Radford regained a 18-16 lead.

Following a Campbell 3-pointer, Johnson scored the next five Radford points on a layup and a 3-pointer of her own as the Highlanders once again regained the lead with a 23-21 advantage at the 3:12 mark.

In the closing minutes of the first half, the two foes traded baskets, before Quevedo found White for a basket in the paint as the Highlanders beat the buzzer for a 27-25 halftime lead.

White provided Radford's offense in the opening half with 11 points on 4 of 5 shooting to go along with her seven rebounds. On the other side, Campbell paced the Demon Deacons with 11 points.

Both teams came out of the locker room with a vengeance, trading baskets early in the third quarter. The Demon Deacons battled back to tie the game at 35 on an Alex Sharp 3-pointer at the 7:44 mark.

Radford used two 8-0 runs after Wake Forest tied the game to build a commanding 13-point lead as the two runs combined for a 16-3 run.

The run started as Walker collected back-to-back transition baskets, grabbing a rebound and taking on three Demon Deacons to hand Radford a 41-35 lead at the 6:15 clip. Following a White layup one-minute later, the Highlanders were held scoreless for almost two minutes, before receiving two huge 3-pointers from its point guards.

A White steal led to a dribble-drive kick out from Walker that found Johnson for a right wing 3-pointer. Thirty seconds later, Falconer gave the Highlanders another 3-pointer on an inside-out pass from White. The two 3-pointers brought the Radford faithful to its feet as the Highlanders commanded a 51-38 lead.

Wake Forest cut the lead to 53-44 on two layups by Milan Quinn to end the third quarter.

The final quarter only saw two points scored until the 5:16 mark as White's layup at the 8:33 mark extended Radford's lead back to double-digits.

A 4-0 Demon Deacon swing cut the Radford lead to 55-48, but the Highlanders ended the run with baskets from White and Worthy.

Trailing 59-51 with under 1:30 remaining in regulation, Wake Forest begin the foul the Highlanders. Radford made 9 of 18 free throw attempts down the stretch to hold on for the 68-60 win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

With the win, Radford pulls within 7-4 of Wake Forest in the all-time series.
Head coach Mike McGuire improves to 1-8 against opponents from Power 5 conferences as the Highlanders have two remaining on their schedule.
Janayla White's double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds is the 16^th of her career.
White finished with two blocks, giving her 116 in her career. She needs three to move into a three-way tie for third place in program history.
Destinee Walker nearly missed her third double-double in the last four games with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Walker has scored double-digits in six of Radford's seven games.
Khiana Johnson finishes with her second consecutive double-figure game with 13 points on 4 of 7 shooting, including 2 of 3 from 3-point land.
Jayda Worthy and Johnson finished with three assists each.
Radford finished shooting 24-57 from the field for a 42.1 field-goal percentage.
The Highlanders are only the second team to shoot over 40 percent against the Demon Deacons this season.
Radford shot over 48 percent in the second half, making 13 of 27 attempts.
This marks the fifth time on the season that the Highlanders have shot over 40-percent in a game.
Radford won the rebound battle, 43-39.
Of the 128 points scored in the game, 70 were scored in the paint. Radford added 34 points in the paint.

QUOTABLE

"Today was an unbelievable win for our program. Our ladies came into this game with the mindset and focus to win the game. I thought we played with tremendous poise and togetherness for 40 minutes today. We knew we had to play with great focus and discipline.Our ladies were tremendous today. I wanted to play this game this season to use as a measuring stick for our program. We played Wake Forest during my first season and learned a lot about our program. I am so proud of the growth that we have made in the past few years and look forward to helping this team reach its full potential." ~ Radford head coach Mike McGuire

UP NEXT

Radford will take a week off for exams, returning to action on Dec. 18 at Kentucky for the second meeting all-time between the two foes.
The meeting is the first since Nov. 26, 1988.
Kentucky won the matchup, 89-83.