RADFORD LOOKS TO START BIG SOUTH PLAY 4-0; FIRST TIME SINCE 1998

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SETTING THE STAGE

For the first time since 1997-98, Radford has a chance to open Big South with a 4-0 record as the Highlanders host in-state foe Longwood Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest inside the Dedmon Center. The 1997-98 season saw the Highlanders open league play with five straight wins.
Series: Radford, 23-13
Radford has won four contests in a row over the Lancers, holding a 12-2 record in games played inside the Dedmon Center.
The Highlanders swept the two contests a season ago.
Last meeting: Radford 80, Longwood 64 (Feb. 20, 2016)
Game time: 2 p.m.
Dedmon Center | Radford, Va.
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Game Notes

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

Record: 11-3, 3-0 Big South
The Highlanders are coming off a dominating performance over the nation's leader in scoring defense with a 61-42 victory over Campbell on Tuesday night. The Fighting Camels entered the contest holding opponents to a mere 45.8 points per game.
Entering the contest, Campbell had yielded only 55-plus points in five games. Radford became only the third team on the season to score over 60 points on the Camel defense.
Radford shot 50 percent from the field, making 25 of 48 attempts, while shooting over 50 percent in the first and fourth quarters. The last time Radford shot over 50 percent from the field came on Dec. 12, 2015 against Concord. In the contest, Radford finished with a 54.1 clip.
The Highlanders led for 39:46, remaining tied for the first 14 seconds of the game, the most they have led this season.
Before collecting the dominating victory over Campbell on Tuesday, Jayda Worthy was named the Big South's Player of the Week on Monday. The honor was the first of Worthy's career and the third player of the week honor by a Highlander this season, giving Radford the most in the Big South.
Worthy has been one of the best players in the Big South after conference play opened. In the last four games, Worthy has tallied 64 points on 25 of 34 shooting. Worthy has grabbed 35 rebounds and dished out six assists.
Totaling double-digits in the last four games, Worthy has scored in double-figures in eight of Radford's 14 games, giving her 31 in her career.
The junior is second in the Big South with 17.0 ppg through the first three conference games. During the four-game stretch, Worthy has improved her season average to 11.0 ppg, ranking 11^th in the league.
Worthy leads the Big South with a 59.6 field goal percentage, while Destinee Walker follows in third with a 49.3 percentage.
Khiana Johnson came off the bench with a 14-point effort in the Tuesday night win. Johnson shot 5 for 10 from the field, including two 3-pointers for her sixth double-figure performance of the season. Only a freshman, Johnson is averaging 10.0 ppg in Big South play.
Finishing with two blocks in Tuesday's win, Janayla White now has 130 in her career, needing only 10 to move into a two-way tie for second in program history.
White leads the conference and ranks 48^th nationally with 2.0 bpg.
Through the last four games, Radford has assisted on 60 of their 98 made field goals. The Highlanders rank third in the Big South with 172 assists on the season, however they lead the conference with 26 assists in league play for 8.7 per game.
Walker dished out a career-high seven assists on Tuesday night, the most by a Highlander on the season. Walker has led the Highlanders in assists in five games this season.
The seven assists improve Walker's average to a team best 2.4 per game, tied for 11^th in the conference.

SCOUTING LONGWOOD

Record: 3-11, 0-3 Big South
Longwood enters the contest having lost three in a row and eight of their last 10 games.
The Lancers are 1-7 in road contests and have not won a road contest since a 72-59 win over UMASS Lowell on Nov. 20, 2016.
They enter the contest with the Big South's eighth ranked scoring offense (55.1 ppg) and the ninth ranked scoring defense (76.9 ppg) for a scoring margin of -21.8.
Longwood sports no players with a double-figure average as Dayna Rouse leads the team with 9.4 ppg off the bench. Eboni Gilliam follows with 9.0 ppg.
Rouse boasts a 47.4 shooting percentage, while Gilliam holds a 40.7 clip.
Eight different Lancers average five-plus points per game.
Opposing teams are shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 32.2 percent from behind the arc against the Lancer defense.
Longwood allows 45.6 rebounds per game, while only averaging 35.6 per game.
The Lancers have forced 264 turnovers, which ranks second in the league for 18.9 per game. They have collected 115 steals for 8.2 per game, fourth best in the Big South.
Micaela Ellis ranks tied for sixth in the league with 1.7 spg.
Seven different Lancers have double-digit steals.
Ranking 62^nd nationally and second in the Big South, Ellis spends very little time on the bench, averaging 35.4 minutes per game.

UP NEXT

Radford continues its homestand on Tuesday with a 7 p.m. battle against High Point.
The Highlanders looks to avenge a regular season sweep from a year ago as High Point went 2-1 in 2015-16.
One of only two Big South foes that Radford holds a losing record against, High Point maintains a 26-17 edge in the all-time series.
Radford holds a 16-5 advantage inside the Dedmon Center.
High Point has won seven out of the last nine regular season matchups, winning four out of the last five inside the Dedmon Center.

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