RADFORD PREPARES FOR SEMIFINAL SATURDAY VS. CHARLESTON SO.

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Radford advanced to its second straight semifinal appearance Friday afternoon with a thrilling 54-51 over Gardner-Webb in the quarterfinals of the 2017 Big South Women's Basketball Championship. The Highlanders will meet No. 5 seeded Charleston Southern Saturday at 2 p.m. inside the Vines Center in Lynchburg, Va. as the Buccaneers make their first appearance in the semifinals since 2012.

SETTING THE STAGE
- Series: Radford leads, 49-19
- The Buccaneers hold a 2-1 edge in neutral site matchups.
- Location: Vines Center (Lynchburg, Va.)
- Time: 2 p.m.
- Live Stats
- ESPN3
- Live Audio
- Game Notes
- Game Day Central

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

Radford led by as many as 13 points against Gardner-Webb, but a 9:33 stretch without a field goal plagued the Highlanders as the Runnin' Bulldogs ended the third quarter on a 11-0 run to eventually knot the game.
Radford and Gardner-Webb had previously met twice in the conference tournament with the Runnin' Bulldogs taking both meetings. The Highlander win avenged a 70-56 loss in 2015 quarterfinals as Gardner-Webb upset No. 2 Radford.
For only the 11th time on the season, Radford shot under 40 percent, finishing with a 32.7 performance from the field. The Highlanders made 18 of 55 shots.
The Highlanders made 13 of 16 free throw attempts, finishing with an 81.3 percentage.
Radford's defense turned 12 Gardner-Webb miscues into 16 points.
Controlling a 43-40 rebound advantage, Radford turned 11 offensive boards into 12 points.
Radford matched a season-high 10 blocks. Worthy totaled four blocks, matching a season high set in the first game of the season. White contributed three blocks.
Janayla White collected the 21st double-double of her career with a 12-point, 15-rebound performance. Destinee Walker finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Khiana Johnson contributed with 11 points off the bench as Radford only scored 13 bench points.
Radford enters the semifinal matchup having won eight of its last 10 games. In that streak is a 67-59 overtime win against Charleston Southern inside the Dedmon Center on Feb. 11, 2017.
Mike McGuire, who is in his fourth season as head coach, will be aiming to guide Radford to its first Big South tournament title game since 2008. He picked up his second postseason victory as the Highlanders' head coach on Friday.
Defense has been the staple of the Highlanders' success. Entering the conference tournament, Radford ranked 11^th nationally in scoring defense (54.6), 12^th in field goal percentage defense (35.1) and 23^rd in fewest fouls (434).
Finishing as the Big South's leader in field goal percentage and defense, the Highlanders posted a .422 clip in 29 regular season games, while shooting .432 in league games.
The Highlanders ranked third in the Big South with 39.0 rebounds per game, holding opponents to 33.5 per game.
Individually, Janayla White finished third in the league with 7.8 rpg and Jayda Worthy follows in fourth with 7.3 per game. Radford is the only team in the Big South to have two players rank inside the top five and three inside the top ten. Destinee Walker comes in at 10^th with 6.2 rpg.

POSTSEASON HONOREES

Destinee Walker and Jayda Worthy were selected to the All-Big South first team when the conference's postseason awards were revealed Tuesday afternoon.
It marked the second consecutive season that Radford had placed two on the first team and seventh time in program history.
The honor was the first of Walker's career, while Worthy was named to the all-freshman team in 2014-15.
Walker finished third in the Big South Player of the Year voting (two first-place votes and 102 points). Worthy finished fourth in the voting.
Worthy finished just behind Campbell's MaKala Rouse for Big South Defensive Player of the Year honors. Rouse received 18 points on five first-place votes, while Worthy collected 14 points on two first-place votes.
Janayla White earned her third straight Big South postseason honor, being named to the honorable mention squad.
Radford was represented on the all-freshman team for the third straight season as Khiana Johnson headlined the squad, marking only the third time in program history that the Highlanders have collected three consecutive all-freshman team honorees.
Johnson finished second in Big South Freshman of the Year voting, grabbing 28 points and two first-place votes.
Mike McGuire finished second in the voting for Big South Coach of the Year for the second straight season.
McGuire finished behind Campbell's Ronny Fisher. Fisher had 24 points on eight first-place votes, while McGuire collected 19 points and one first-place vote.

TOURNEY TIME

Radford is seeking to advance to the championship game for the first time since 2008.
The Highlanders have not advanced past the semifinal round since appearing in the title game in 2008 against Liberty. The Flames wont the matchup 66-65.
Radford is 12-7 all-time in the semifinal round.
This year marks the 21st anniversary of the Highlanders' last Big South tournament title (1996). They have reached the championship game twice since then (2007 and 2008).
With a victory Saturday, the Highlanders would pull within one game of returning to the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in program history. After winning the regular-season championship, Radford has already clinched a berth to the WNIT if it was not to win the tournament championship.
The Vines Center has not held every Big South Tournament game since hosting in 1998. Liberty hosted the entire tournament in 1997 and 1998.
Radford holds a 3-2 record in tournament games played inside the Vines Center.

TOURNAMENT RESUME

As the No. 1 seed: 10-1
Record in quarterfinals: 15-10
Record in semifinals: 12-7
Record in championship game: 9-3
Record in tournament opener: 20-11
Record as higher seed: 26-9
Record as lower seed: 11-12
Record in Lynchburg: 3-2
Championships won (last): 9 (1996)
Championships won in Lynchburg: 0

ROLLING, ROLLING ON THE RIVER

With a 23-7 record, the 2016-17 squad ranks fourth all-time for most season wins in program history.
With 23 wins, Radford has won the most games in a season since the 2007-08 squad won 23 games, ironically the last time the Highlanders made an appearance in the conference tournament championship game.
Radford needs only two wins to match the program's record for most wins in a season.
In the last three seasons under head coach Mike McGuire, Radford has posted win totals of 17, 18, and 23.
Radford's program record for wins in a season is 25, set during the 1988-89 season. The Highlanders went 25-7 that season.

SCOUTING CHARLESTON SOUTHERN

Elyse Kiploks hit the go-ahead layup with 22 seconds left on the clock and the Charleston Southern defense collected a late rebound with 1.1 seconds remaining as the No. 5 seeded Buccaneers upset tournament host No. 4 Liberty in a 52-50 quarterfinal matchup.
The Charleston Southern win snapped Liberty's streak of 20 consecutive semifinal appearances.
Ke'Asia Jackson scored a team-high 16 points in 22 minutes' gameplay on the afternoon.
Alyssa Mann started an 11-0 Buccaneer run late in the second quarter to give the Bucs a halftime lead. Mann finished with 12 points, playing all 40 minutes.
In 30 minutes of action off the bench, Breannah Bretches provided 12 points on a 6 for 13 shooting performance.
The Buccaneer defense forced 24 turnovers, scoring 22 points of the Liberty miscues.

UP NEXT
Saturday's semifinal winner between No. 1 Radford and No. 5 Charleston Southern will advance to Sunday's championship game at 4 p.m. against the victor between No. 6 Presbyterian and No. 7 UNC Asheville

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Players Mentioned

#10 Destinee Walker: G/F; 5' 11"; Sophomore

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

#22 Jayda Worthy: F; 6' 0"; Junior

#4 Khiana Johnson: G; 5' 7"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#10 Destinee Walker
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: G/F

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

#22 Jayda Worthy
: 6' 0"; Junior
: F

#4 Khiana Johnson
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: G