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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Johnson-20161208
Tim Cowie
39
Western Carolina WCU 3-8
67
Winner Radford RAD 6-1
Western Carolina WCU
3-8
39
Final
67
Radford RAD
6-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Western Carolina WCU 8 7 15 9 39
Radford RAD 21 16 15 15 67

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

HIGHLANDERS CRUISE TO 67-39 EDUCATION DAY WIN OVER WCU



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Radford 67, Western Carolina 39
  • Records: Highlanders (6-1) | Catamounts (3-8)
  • Location: Dedmon Center | Radford, Va.  
 
RADFORD, Va. – Radford hosted Western Carolina in its annual Education Day game, feeding off the electricity brought by over 2,000 students from schools around the New River Valley as the Highlanders raced out to an early 21-8 lead in the first quarter and never looked back in a 67-39 routing for their sixth consecutive win.
 
Radford's offense was paced by a season-high 15 points from freshman Khiana Johnson and a 14-point effort by Jayda Worthy.
 
After Western Carolina took a 4-2 lead to open the contest, Radford went on a 19-4 run. Worthy sparked the run, scoring six quick points, including back to back layups off an offensive rebound and steal to give the Highlanders a 10-4 advantage at the 5:11 mark.
 
Two baskets from Destinee Walker and a 3-pointer by Jen Falconer off a nice inside-out pass from Sydney Nunley extended the Highlander lead to 13 points (19-6).
 
In the second quarter, both squads came out of the huddle cold, holding each other scoreless from the first 2:12. The Highlanders ended the drought, catching fire on back-to-back transition baskets from Worthy and Walker off of a pair of Nunley rebounds.
 
Johnson added seven of her 15 points in the second quarter on 3 of 5 shooting as the Highlander defense held the Catamounts to only three made field goals in the quarter.
 
Radford shot a blistering 50 percent from the floor (16-32), while forcing 12 turnovers in the first half to highlight a 37-15 lead.
 
Of Worthy's 14 points, 12 came in the first half on a 5 of 6 performance from the field. Johnson chipped in nine points in the half.
 
Coming out of halftime, Western Carolina opened with an 8-3 run, forcing a Radford timeout after Lauren LaPlant knocked down a 3-pointer and Sherae Bonner finished off a three-point play.
 
Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer after the timeout to push the Radford lead back to 20 (43-23) with 6:17 remaining in the third quarter.
 
Janayla White added five of her nine points in the third quarter, including two consecutive layups to end the quarter with a 52-30 Radford lead.
The Catamounts scored the first seven points of the final quarter, forcing three Radford turnovers in a full-court press.
 
Radford regained its composure, ending the contest on a 15-2 run, while commanding a 16-5 rebounding edge for a 67-39 Education Day victory.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • In two consecutive Education Day wins, Radford has outscored opponents 146-107.
  • Radford is one win away from matching its best eight-game start to a season since 1985-86, when the Highlanders started 7-1.
  • Khiana Johnson finished with her third double-digit scoring performance with a 15-point effort on 5 of 14 shooting from the field, including two 3-pointers. Johnson finished 3 of 4 from the charity stripe.
  • The freshman paced the Highlanders in assists for the first time on the season, finishing with four.
  • Joining Johnson as the only other Highlander in double-figures, Jayda Worthy chipped in 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting, nearly missing her second straight double-double with nine rebounds.
  • After missing the previous two games, Janayla White finished with 11 rebounds and nine points in only 17 minutes of action.
  • White finished with two blocks, moving her into sole possession of fifth all-time with 114 career blocks.
  • Sydney Nunley joined White with 11 boards. Nunley has corralled 24 rebounds in the last two games, bringing her season average to 6.6 per game.
  • Destinee Walker was unable to keep her streak of six consecutive games of double-digit scoring and three-game stretch of double-doubles. Walker finished with eight points and six rebounds.
  • Eight different Highlanders finished in the scoring column with seven scoring six-plus points.
  • Radford finished with a 47.2 field-goal percentage, their fourth game in the last five with a 40-plus shooting percentage.
  • Of Radford's 25 made field goals, 13 were assisted on.
  • Radford dominated the boards, finishing with a 50-28 edge.
  • The 50 rebounds are a season-high and the first time the Highlanders have collected 5-plus rebounds since Feb. 23, 2016 at Winthrop.

QUOTABLE
  • "Today was a day I was looking forward to for a while. This is a day we put a lot of preparation into since last April and we wanted it to be great for everybody, in terms of all the young kids getting a college game experience and our team getting to play in front of a good crowd. I thought we got off to a great start and felt the energy in the arena and it just made for a good day. I think there are some things we need to clean up from the second half, but overall it was a good day." ~ Radford head coach Mike McGuire

UP NEXT
  • Radford will begin its stretch of three straight games against Power 5 opponents on Saturday. The Highlanders travel to Wake Forest for a 2 p.m. contest.
  • Wake Forest owns a 7-3 record in the all-time series.
  • The matchup is the final game before exam week for the Highlanders, receiving an eight-day break.
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