HIGHLANDERS AND EAGLES SET FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON TILT

RADFORD, Va.—Radford returns to the Dedmon Center after a one-game hiatus for a Saturday afternoon tilt versus Winthrop on Jan. 18th at 2:00 p.m.

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Dollar Day

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In the closest game of the season thus far, Radford's (5-10, 3-3 Big South) defense held firm in the waning moments of the fourth quarter as Longwood (8-7, 7-4 Big South) launched up several shots. The Highlanders outlasted the Lancers 62-61, propelled by Khiana Johnson's newly set career high 20 points.

Johnson wasted no time getting Radford on the board, with her three-pointer coming nearly 28 seconds into the game. And, from there the Highlanders never looked back. At the end of the first quarter six different players had scored for Radford, with Bryonna McClean's paint jumper sealing the stanza with eight seconds to go. The Highlanders led 23-10.

The Lancers responded in the following period holding the visiting team to only eight points while doubling that offensive output. Nonetheless, Radford entered halftime leading 31-26. By this time Johnson was already halfway to her total.

After a Highlander timeout, the deficit would bounce around but never reach below four points. Not until back-to-back three pointers from Kyla McMakin now left the Radford lead at one point, 62-61, with 43 seconds remaining. Head Coach Mike McGuire called a timeout to talk over the remainder of the game, moments later a foul out puts Tina Lindenfeld in the game for Aiden Rainford with 17 seconds left. Longwood calls their 30 second timeout to design a play for the hot-handed McMakin. With her shot off to the right, the Lancers grabbed the offensive rebound and took two more shots to no avail as the buzzer sounded.

Through her 36 minutes played, Johnson set a new scoring career high of 20 points. Her previous high was 19 points against Campbell last season. She added three assists, a rebound, steal, while shooting 50 percent from the floor and 75 percent from behind the arc. This is the ninth time she's scoring in double figures this season.

In 20 minutes off the bench, Nunley was a force to be reckoned with on the low block. She posted her third double-double of the season and 15th of her career. Nunley was 5-for-9 from the floor and sent back a pair of Lancer shots. Her 10 points paired well with her season high 13 rebounds.

Radford got the better of Winthrop both times during the 2018-19 season with almost identical scores, 70-49 and 79-57. In the last matchup of the season back on Tuesday, Feb. 19th the Highlanders emerged victorious on the Eagles' home court. Walker posted a game high 26 points, and cracked the top-10 all-time program scoring list. Nunley posted her ninth double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Makaila Wilson was 3-for-4 from deep, and tallied 11 points. The Highlanders shot 50 percent from the floor and made 12 three-pointers.

Jah'che Whitfield led Winthrop with 12 points. The Eagles shot 37.9 percent from the floor, 16.7 percent from three, and were 5-for-8 from the charity stripe.

A Radford win would keep the Highlanders in the win column and ignite a two-game winning streak, while increasing the all-time series to 63 wins. A loss would slip Winthrop to a two-game losing streak and push the Eagles to eight wins overall, five in conference play.

In NCAA DI women's basketball, Radford as a team cracks the top-100 teams in fewest fouls
at 71/1st in conference and personal fouls per game at 93/3rd in conference. Johnson is 145th/5th assists per game and field goal attempts at 142nd/4th in conference. Nunley is 201st/6th for blocked shots per game. Amele Ngwafang 155th/2nd in rebounds per game.

Jen Falconer is three games away from tying Jayda Worthy (2014-18) for career games played at 123. Falconer and Johnson continue to climb the career assists ladder, Falconer is eighth at 295 and Johnson is ninth at 289. Nunley has now solidified herself at No.7 in individual career blocks at 109.

Winthrop started conference play with a pair of home wins over Hampton (72-66) and High Point (69-63). The Eagles then traveled to the Runnin' Bulldogs for their first Big South loss 59-71. They then notched back-to-back victories over USC Upstate (52-38) and Presbyterian (61-54). Winthrop's second conference loss came on the road at Campbell 47-63 on Tuesday, Jan. 14th.

In that game, the Eagles got off to a slow start offensively, scoring just 12 points in the first half. Winthrop shot 19 percent from the field while the Camels shot 46 percent and had a 24-point lead after 20 minutes of play. The Eagles picked up the pace after halftime, opening with a 10-0 run. Campbell responded with a 13-4 run of their own to close out the quarter. The Eagles outscored the Camels, 21-10, in the final 10 minutes of play but the deficit was too large to come back from. As a team, they ended the game shooting 33 percent from the field, 27 percent from behind the arc and 75 percent from the line.

Destinee Jamison-Whitfield ended with nine points, four rebounds, one block and steal. Kem Nwabudu notched eight points, five rebounds, an assist and steal. Jah-Che Whitfield had seven points and rebounds, with two assists.

UP NEXT
Radford heads to South Carolina for their first look at the USC Upstate Spartans on Tuesday, Jan. 21st at 6:00 p.m.

FOLLOW RADFORD WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
For more information on the Radford women's basketball team follow @Radford_WBB on Twitter and Instagram or Radford Women's Basketball on Facebook.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#2 Tina Lindenfeld: F; 6' 1"; Junior

#12 Bryonna McClean: G; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#35 Amele Ngwafang: F; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#14 Makaila Wilson: G; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#23 Aiden Rainford: F; 6' 1"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#2 Tina Lindenfeld
: 6' 1"; Junior
: F

#12 Bryonna McClean
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: G

#35 Amele Ngwafang
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: F

#14 Makaila Wilson
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: G

#23 Aiden Rainford
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: F