RADFORD'S PATH TO THE BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP BEGINS FRIDAY

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Radford begins its quest for the program's 10th conference tournament championship Friday when the top seeded Highlanders meet winner of No. 7 Gardner-Webb/No. 10 Winthrop in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Big South Women's Basketball Championship hosted by Liberty. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m., from Vines Center in Lynchburg, Va.

SETTING THE STAGE
- Date: Friday, March 8
- Location: Vines Center (Lynchburg, Va.)
- Time: 6 p.m.
- Live Stats
- ESPN3
- Live Audio
- Game Notes
- Tickets

TOURNEY TIME

Radford is seeking to advance to the Big South Women's Basketball Championship game for the second consecutive season.
The Highlanders picked up a pair of three-point wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals before dropping a 49-48 decision to UNC Asheville in the 2017 championship game.
Radford led for over 37 minutes, however Asheville ended the game on an 8-0 run.
This year marks the 22nd anniversary of the Highlanders' last Big South tournament title (1996). They have reached the championship game three times since then (2007, 2008 and 2017).
The last time Liberty and the Vines Center hosted the Big South Tournament in back-to-back seasons came in 1997 and 1998.
Radford holds a 4-3 record in tournament games played inside the Vines Center.
In regular season games played inside the Vines Center, Radford holds a 6-22 record.

TOURNAMENT RESUME

As the No. 2 seed: 14-6
Record in quarterfinals: 16-10
Record in semifinals: 14-7
Record in championship game: 9-5
Record in tournament opener: 21-11
Record as higher seed: 28-10
Record as lower seed: 11-12
Record in Lynchburg: 6-4
Championships won (last): 9 (1996)
Championships won in Lynchburg: 0

POSTSEASON HONOREES

Earning first team honors for the second time in her career was senior Janayla White, while fellow senior Jayda Worthy was named the league's defensive player of the year in addition to her second team honors.
In all, four Highlanders were recognized, headlined by White and Worthy. Destinee Walker joined the duo with all-conference honors as she earned a spot on the honorable mention team. Redshirt sophomore Jen Falconer was acknowledged on the all-academic team for the first time in her career.
White received two first-place votes and totaled 110 points, finishing 10 points behind Liberty's Keyen Green for the league's player of the year award. Worthy tallied two first-place votes for 17 total points, edging Presbyterian's Cortney Storey for the defensive player of the year honor.
The core of White, Worthy and Walker finished as Radford's top three scorers; responsible for 30.7 of Radford's 61.4 points per game. The same trio earned all-conference a season ago as Radford has placed three players on all-conference teams in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1988-89/1989-90.

ANOTHER ONE FOR MCGUIRE

Mike McGuire was named Big South Coach of the Year for the second time in his five seasons at the helm of the Highlanders.
McGuire donned the honor in 2015 after leading the Highlanders to a 10-win difference in the 2014-15 season.
McGuire led the 2017-18 Highlanders to a 22-7 regular season record and a 15-3 clip in conference play. Radford has won 20 games in back-to-back seasons, marking the first time the Highlanders have done so since the 2006-07/2007-08 campaigns.
The 15 Big South wins set a new program record.
McGuire joins Charlene Curtis as the only two-time winner of the award in program history.
Radford has won the award seven times in its storied program.

HIGHLANDER OFFENSIVE NOTES

In the last five games, Radford has three 20-point victories and two 40-point victories.
The Highlanders have 14 wins by 15 or more points this season.
Radford's average margin of victory is by 28.2 points in the last five games.
On the season, Radford has five victories decided by 25-plus points, including three wins by 35-plus points in Big South play.
Known for its defensive efforts, Radford also ranks second in field goal percentage, connecting for 42.5 percent of its shots to rank second in the league.
In league games, Radford is tied with Liberty for the top spot with a 45.7 shooting clip.
The Highlanders have shot over 40-percent in 12 out of the last 15 games.
Dominating the paint of late, Radford has scored 174 of its last 305 points inside.
Radford has assisted on 388 of its 676 made field goals as five players have dished out 50-plus assists on the season.
The Highlanders lead the Big South with 13.4 dimes per game, while also leading the way with a 0.89 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Individually, Jayda Worthy finished third with a 53.1 field goal percentage, while Janayla White made 61.0 percent of her shots in Big South play to rank second.
White also finished with a 64.6 free throw percentage, which ranks fifth in the league among regular season games.
Claudia Quevedo finished the regular season with a 44.2 clip from beyond the arc, leading the Big South by making 53 of 120 attempts from deep.

SHE'S WHITE HOT

The three-week stretch of torrid performances by Janayla White led to the forward being named Big South Player of the Week for two straight weeks (Feb. 19 & 26), marking the sixth time on the season the weekly award has resided in the New River Valley.
White has donned the weekly award five times in her career, while becoming the first player to win the award three times during the 2017-18 season.
White has won eight Big South weekly awards, earning three freshman of the week nods during the 2014-15 season.
During the two weeks of awards: White averaged 18.0 points per game, 10.5 rebounds per game, 3.3 blocks per game and 1.8 assists per game.
White was 27 for 34 from the field, turning in a 79.4 shooting clip as the Highlanders won all four games during the stretch.
In the last seven games, White has tallied 106 points on 38 of 58 shooting, possessing a 65.5 field goal percentage during the stretch.
She is averaging 15.1 ppg, 9.8 rpg and 3.0 bpg during the stretch.
In Feb. 20 win over Longwood, White was 12 for 12 from the field in a 26-point, 11-rebound effort.
The performance is a Big South record for highest field goal percentage in a game and most perfect field goals made in game.
Against Presbyterian on Feb. 24, White matched a career-high six blocks to become the second player in program history and the 10th in Big South history with 200 career blocks.
With a possibility of four more games remaining in her career, White is 41 rebounds from becoming the third player in program history and the eighth in league history with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
During Radford's current 10-game winning streak, White has scored double-figures eight times with four double-doubles.

THE DEFENSE OF A HIGHLANDER

Fourteen out of Radford's last 15 opponents have been held below 60 points as the Highlanders hold a 31-4 record in the last 61 games when doing so.
The Highlanders have only allowed 60-plus points in three of the 18 league games, all coming as losses.
In the last 16 games, 14 opponents have been held below 40 percent shooting as the Highlanders rank second with a 35.4 field goal defense, which is 13th in the country.
Radford leads the Big South in hold opposing league teams to a 33.1 shooting clip.
The Highlander defense is holding Big South foes to 48.8 points per game, while ranking fifth nationally with a 52.1 scoring defense.
Radford also ranks 12th nationally with a 27.1 three-point field goal percentage defense.
Radford's defense has forced 18-plus turnovers in 12 games on the season.
Forcing 16.1 turnovers per game, Radford is averaging 12.8 points per game off opponent miscues.
Moving their feet on defense, the Highlanders have only committed 388 fouls, which ranks 10th in the nation, while committing only 13.4 per game to rank 11th.
Sophomore Lydia Rivers and senior Janayla White have led Radford's defense to ranking 21st in the nation in blocked shots per game with 5.2 per game.
Totaling 151 as a team to rank 27th nationally, the duo has blocked 52 each.
Nationally, White ranks 41st with 2.1 per game and Rivers ranks 70th with 1.8.

CRUNCH TIME

Radford has played in 32 games that have been decided by three points or less since the 2014-15 campaign.
The Highlanders have posted a 24-8 mark in those games.
Under head coach Mike McGuire, Radford is 26-12 in games decided by five points or less.

DEUCES ARE WILD!

Radford has already won two championships during the 2017-18 athletic season as the No. 2 seed (Volleyball, Men's Basketball).
The two championships came inside the Dedmon Center as No. 2 seeds, which if you add together is four. Men's basketball won their championship on March 4th.
The Radford women's basketball team enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed.
Head coach Mike McGuire won his second Big South Coach of the Year award.
The Big South's Defensive Player of the Year, Jayda Worthy, wears the number 22.
Janayla White collected her second Big South First Team honor.
Radford's last tournament championship came 22 years ago as the No. 2 seed.
Game time for the championship game is set for 2 p.m.
Also, Radford's path to the championship game will come with game times of 6 p.m., 4 p.m., and 2 p.m.
All of those numbers are divisible by two.

UP NEXT
The winner of Friday's third quarterfinal matchup will advance to Saturday's semifinals where it will await the winner between No. 3 UNC Asheville and No. 6 Campbell. Tip-off of the second semifinal is slated for 4 p.m., and will be broadcast on ESPN3.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

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

#11 Claudia Quevedo: G; 5' 9"; Redshirt Junior

#20 Lydia Rivers: F; 6' 2"; Redshirt Sophomore

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

#11 Claudia Quevedo
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Junior
: G

#20 Lydia Rivers
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Sophomore
: F

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

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

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