Radford, Va. - - -The host Radford women's basketball team hit a season-high 11 three-point field goals and cruised to a 70-49 victory against the Winthrop Eagles, Saturday afternoon at the Dedmon Center.

Redshirt junior forward Lydia Rivers returned to the lineup after missing the last three contests and posted game-highs of 17 points and 16 rebounds (tied her career-high) in 31 minutes off the bench. Senior guard Destinee Walker contributed 14 points and added a season-best six assists. Redshirt junior center Sydney Nunley posted her sixth straight double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) and freshman guard Makaila Wilson added a  career-high 15 points (5-of-7 treys).

"Lydia came in and provided a lot of energy for us today," Highlander head coach Mike McGuire stated. "She's a big part of what we do so it's great to have her back. Without her effort in the first half we might have struggled a bit more."

Radford (9-6, 3-1 Big South), who made 11-of-27 (40.7 percent) attempts from behind the arc on the day, trailed 14-9 after the opening quarter as the visitors raced out to a 10-0 lead at the 4:19 mark. 

The Highlanders found their footing in the second stanza as they outscored the Eagles by a 16-7 margin to take a 25-21 lead at the break.

Rivers hit one-of-two from the foul line to give the hosts their first lead of the game at 16-15 with 7:30 left before halftime. 

Winthrop (6-9, 2-2) re-established a 19-16 edge after a jumper by Jah'che Whitfield (team-high 13 points) at the 6:13 mark, however, Radford scored the next six points to take the lead for good at 22-19.  Nunley opened the spurt with a layup, Rivers converted a pair of free throws and Nunley added another layup.

The Highlanders came out of the locker room on fire to open the third quarter. Walker splashed three straight triples in the span of 2:35 to increase the lead to 34-21.

The Eagles responded with seven consecutive points to close within 34-28 at the 4:36 mark but that was as close as they could get for the remainder of the day.

Radford outscored the visitors by a 15-8 count to grab a 49-36 advantage after three quarters.  Rivers scored eight points during the stretch.

Winthrop closed to 49-38 with 9:05 left in the contest but an 11-2 run by the Highlanders widened their lead to 60-40 at the 5:29 mark.

The hosts took their biggest lead of the game at 67-44 with 2:52 left after a layup by Nunley.

The Highlanders, who shot 41.5 percent overall (27-of-65), handed out a season-high 22 assists and outscored the Eagles by a 30-16 margin in the paint.

Radford will travel to Charleston Southern on Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m.