Women's Basketball 3/16/2017 9:00:00 AM

RADFORD AND JAMES MADISON CLASH FRIDAY IN WNIT FIRST ROUND

RADFORD, Va. – Radford came up just short in a bid for its first Big South Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance since 1996 with a heartbreaking 49-48 Sunday afternoon loss to UNC Asheville in Lynchburg, Va. The Highlanders were eligible for postseason play after winning the conference's regular season championship and will take on James Madison Friday in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).

SETTING THE STAGE
- Series: James Madison leads, 7-20
- The two teams met in the first round of the 2008 WNIT as the Dukes took an 80-58 victory.
- Location: JMU Convocation Center (Harrisonburg, Va.)
- Time: 7 p.m.
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- Game Notes
- Game Day Central

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

Record: 24-8 (14-4 Big South)
Radford led for over 37 minutes in the conference championship after getting off to a strong start, making four of its first six shots to take an 8-0 lead 3:27 into the game.
The Highlanders didn't trail in the game until Asheville's Bronaza Fitzgerald made two free throws with five seconds left. Fitzgerald had made the game-winning three-point play in the Bulldogs' semifinal win Saturday, but had missed all four of her free-throw attempts in Sunday's game.
After the Highlanders' timeout, Destinee Walker got the ball at the top of the key and drove the right side of the lane. Her shot was blocked and the ball went to Janayla White on the other side of the basket, but her attempt as the buzzer sounded missed short off the glass.
White posted her third straight double-double in the tournament, finishing with 16 points and 12 rebounds
In the last five games, White has collected five double-doubles, while scoring 73 points and corralling 65 rebounds in the five games.
The junior has improved her scoring average from 8.2 to 9.5 during the five-game span, while increasing her rebounding average from 7.4 to 8.4.
Jayda Worthy added 14 points and five rebounds and Walker chipped in nine points and seven boards.
White and Walker were both named to the All-Tournament Team. In the tournament, White was the only player to average a double-double (14.7 ppg & 13.7 rpg). Walker averaged 10.6 ppg, 8.0 rpg and 2.6 spg.
The two teams met 10 years ago in the 2007 finale, won by UNC Asheville, 67-57. Radford shot 60 percent (15 of 25) in the first half, but connected on just 5 of 24 attempts in the last two quarters, including just 1 of 9 in the fourth. Radford owned a 28-16 edge in points in the paint, but UNC Asheville countered by making 6 of 12 3-pointers.
Radford totaled 11 assists on 20 made field goals, with Jen Falconer collecting four.
The 49-48 loss marked the third Radford game decided by those two numbers. On Feb. 7, Radford dropped a 49-48 comeback attempt to Liberty inside the Vines Center. The Highlanders won the league's regular season championship over Campbell on Feb. 27 by the same score, before dropping the tournament championship 49-48.
Defense has been the staple of the Highlanders' success. Entering the WNIT, Radford ranks 10^th nationally in scoring defense (54.4), 10^th in field goal percentage defense (34.7) and 60^th in blocked shots (135).
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, White finished the regular season third in the league with 7.8 rpg and 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. Walker finished 10^th with 6.2 rpg.

WNIT HISTORY

Radford is making its seventh postseason appearance—three trips to the NCAA Tournament and four trips to the WNIT.
The Highlanders' last trip to the postseason was in 2015 when they faced East Carolina in the first round of the WNIT, dropping the contest 74-52.
The Highlanders are 2-3 all-time in the WNIT.
Radford met James Madison twice during 2008, once in the WNIT first round and the 2008-09 season opener.
The Highlanders first WNIT appearance came in 1989 as the Highlanders set the program record for wins in a season, finishing 25-7 after going 2-1 in the WNIT. The wins came against DePaul and Richmond. The one loss of the first WNIT appearance in program history came in a 99-92 double overtime loss to Sand Diego St.
Radford fell in the tournament championship that season just like this year's squad.

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.

ROLLING, ROLLING ON THE RIVER

With a 24-8 record, the 2016-17 squad ranks fourth all-time for most season wins in program history.
With 24 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 and the WNIT.
Radford needs only one win to match the program's record for most wins in a season.
The program record for wins in a season is 25, set during the 1988-89 season. The Highlanders went 25-7 that season, winning two games in the WNIT.
In the last three seasons under head coach Mike McGuire, Radford has posted win totals of 17, 18, and 24.

SCOUTING JAMES MADISON

Record: 24-8 (15-3 CAA)
The Dukes fell 78-60 on their home floor to Elon in the tournament championship on Saturday after sweeping the season series.
James Madison will be making its 12th consecutive trip to the postseason and first appearance in the WNIT since 2013. They have made seven appearance in the WNIT.
The Dukes finished as the runner-up in the 2012 WNIT.
Precious Hall collected her second CAA Player of the Year award after averaging 23.3 ppg during the regular season, ranking fifth nationally. She is second in program history in scoring, totaling 2,260 points.
Hall has scored double-digits in 32 straight games. She has 754 points on the season, the third-highest single-season total in program history, which ranks third in the country.
The redshirt senior has attempt 314 three-point field goals which lead the nation and has made 97 of the attempts to rank 13^th overall.
She has taken 688 of James Madison's 1,984 field goal attempts this season.
Kamiah Smalls was named the CAA's Rookie of the Year after leading all freshmen in the league with a 9.6 regular season scoring average, while shooting 52.0 percent from the floor. She also pulled down 5.5 rebounds per contest, the highest mark among first-year players in the CAA, and 1.67 assists per game, the third-highest mark amongst CAA freshmen.
James Madison is averaging 70.3 ppg, holding opponents to 61.2 per contest.
With only 10 players appearing in a game this season, all 10 Dukes are averaging at least two points per game. Four players average more than five points per game, but Hall is the only Duke with a double-figure average.
The Dukes are shooting 40.3 percent from the field, while opponents hold a 36.6 percentage.
James Madison is 17-4 in 2017. They are 3-1 against teams from the Commonwealth this season.

UP NEXT
The winner between Radford and James Madison will meet the Saint Joseph's/Virginia winner in the second round, which is to be played between Saturday, March 18 and Tuesday, March 21.

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Players Mentioned

#5 Jen Falconer: G; 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman

#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

#5 Jen Falconer
: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

#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