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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
salute
52
UNC Asheville AVL 17-14 (11-7 BSC)
59
Winner Radford RADFORD 25-6 (17-1 BSC)
UNC Asheville AVL
17-14 (11-7 BSC)
52
Final
59
Radford RADFORD
25-6 (17-1 BSC)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
UNC Asheville AVL 7 13 16 16 52
Radford RADFORD 17 10 16 16 59

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

HIGHLANDERS TO HOST BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP GAME ON SUNDAY AFTER BOUNCING UNC ASHEVILLE, 59-52

Watch Postgame Press Conference

Radford, VA. – The top-seeded Radford women's basketball team will host the 2019 Big South Championship game this Sunday afternoon after defeating the No. 4 seeded UNC Asheville Bulldogs, 59-52, on Friday evening at the Dedmon Center.  The Highlanders will take on No. 6 seed Campbell (21-11, 10-8 Big South) at 2:00 p.m. on their home floor.
 
Radford (25-6, 17-1 Big South), who will be competing in their second Big South Championship game in three years and 14th overall, were led by redshirt-junior forward Lydia Rivers' 18 points and nine rebounds.  Rivers, who also added a pair of rejections, went 7-for-11 from the floor and was 4-of-5 from the foul line.
 
Senior guard/forward Destinee Walker added 14 points and nine boards and junior Khiana Johnson contributed 13 points and a pair of steals.  Redshirt-junior center Sydney Nunley added eight rebounds.
 
The Highlanders, who led from nearly start to finish, jumped out to a 17-7 advantage after the opening quarter.  UNC Asheville guard Jessica Wall brought the visitors within 9-7 with 3:17 left in the opening stanza, but Radford rattled off eight consecutive points to end the quarter. Johnson ignited the burst with a 3-pointer and then the guard hit another jumper on the next trip down. Johnson then set-up Rivers for a conventional 3-point play with 11 seconds left to complete the run.
 
Radford still led by 10, 19-9, after a layup by Nunley with 7:36 left in the second quarter but Nadiria Evans converted a jumper and a layup, slicing the deficit to 19-13 at the 4:48 mark.
 
Another trifecta by Wall closed the gap to 23-18 with 1:34 remaining in the stanza. Johnson answered with a layup and redshirt-junior Savannah Felgemacher swished a pair of free throws to give the hosts a 27-18 lead.  UNC Asheville's Sonora Dengokl hit a jumper with 16 ticks left to make it 27-20 at the break.
 
The Highlanders would build their lead back to double-digits, 35-25, with 5:06 remaining in the third quarter as redshirt-junior point guard Jen Falconer splashed a triple from the right-wing.
 
The Bulldogs, however, responded with six straight points to inch within 35-31 at the 2:46 mark.  Junior Juliet Esadah scored the final four points for UNC Asheville on a jumper and a layup.
 
Walker followed with a jumper, but Wall connected on another long-range bomb to bring the Bulldogs within 37-34 with 1:46 left in the quarter.  
 
Felgemacher responded with a big trey of her own and Walker closed out the scoring in the quarter with her second 3-pointer of the night to give Radford a 43-36 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes.
 
The visitors got right back in it as forward Tiffany Wilson and Dengokl recorded the first two buckets of the fourth quarter to bring the Bulldogs within 43-40.  However, Rivers grabbed two consecutive offensive rebounds and drew a foul, resulting in two made free throws, and Johnson followed with a clutch jumper to restore a 47-40 advantage at the 5:49 mark.
 
Wall hit yet another 3-pointer to cut the lead to 47-43 with 4:27 left and then Evans followed with a layup to make it 47-45 with 3:52 left.
 
Following a Radford timeout, Rivers converted a jumper, but guard Brooke Jordan-Brown answered with an offensive rebound and a layup to cut the lead to 49-47 with three minutes on the clock.
 
Johnson responded with another clutch jumper and Rivers followed with a hoop inside to give the Highlanders some breathing room at 53-47 with 1:48 left.
 
Guard Zip Scott drilled a 3-pointer with thirty-seven ticks left to bring the visitors within 55-52, but Walker calmly converted two free throws to put her team ahead, 57-52 with twenty-six seconds left.
 
The visitors had one final chance to stay in the game, but Wall misfired on a 3-pointer on the next trip down and Walker grabbed the board before being fouled again. She stepped to the line and swished two more to salt the game away, 59-52, with 17 seconds left.
 
Wall paced the Bulldogs with 12 points and was 4-of-11 from behind the arc.
 
Radford shot 37.9 percent overall (22-of-58), went 5-for-11 (45.5 percent) from behind the arc and were 10-for-11 (90.9 percent) from the line.
 
UNC Asheville connected on 40 percent of their attempts as they went 22-for-55 from the floor. The Bulldogs hit 5-of-16 (31.3 percent) of their 3-point attempts and were 3-for-6 from the charity-stripe.
 
The Bulldogs had eliminated the Highlanders in the last three tournament clashes but the hosts got some revenge on Friday evening.
 
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