RADFORD, Va. - Radford will look to continue their winning streak on Saturday against Gardner-Webb. The Highlanders will take on the Runnin' Bulldogs at 2:00 p.m. in Boiling Springs, N.C. in Paul Porter Arena.
Back on Tuesday, Jan. 21st, Radford's (7-10, 5-3 Big South) first quarter dominance set the tone for the game at USC Upstate (6-12, 1-8 Big South). The Highlanders 57-41 victory over the Spartans, is their third consecutive Big South Conference win and longest streak of the season so far. Sydney Nunley ended the game with her third double-double in three-games.
With only 13 seconds off the game clock, Khiana Johnson wasted no time in getting Radford on the board with a jumper. The Highlanders proceeded to mount a 15-0 run before a Spartan jumper broke the streak around the two-minute mark. Johnson closed out the quarter with the final three points, with Radford ahead 18-2.In the final quarter of play, Upstate's Kathryn Kirkwood notched a jumper to cut the lead to 13. The Highlanders responded with a pair of Nunley buckets to push the lead to 17. After Barrett Herring's jumper the teams began to trade point-for-point until Nunley's free throw solidified a break in play. The lead had been restored to 15 points and Amele Ngwafang closed the contest with a free throw of her own to extend the lead to 16.
Nunley has now posted a double-double in each of her last three-games played. In this outing, she tallied 15 points and 14 rebounds. She added a pair of assists, a block, two steals while shooting 50 percent from the floor and charity stripe through 33 minutes. This is her fifth double-double on the year and 17th of her career.
Radford only faced Gardner-Webb once during the 2018-19 season at home in the Dedmon Center. The Highlanders won by a margin of 10, 79-69. Coach McGuire's squad had five in double digits, with three of them notching double-doubles in the home victory. Rivers (14pts 15reb), Walker (19pts, 11reb), and Felgemacher (12pts, 10reb). Aiding in the Radford overall total were Khiana Johnson with 16 points and Sydney Nunley at 13 points. The lead never changed and there was never a tie in the game as Radford's biggest lead was 15 points during the third period. The Highlanders garnered 46 points off turnovers, 16 second chance points, 14 fastbreak points, and the bench produced 17 points.
Gardner-Webb did not go down easily, outscoring Radford in the second and fourth periods. The Runnin' Bulldogs had three in double figures with now senior, Savannah Plentovich leading the charge with 16 points and six rebounds. Now graduated, Ky'Asia Stanford (16 points) and Neydja Petithomme (10 points) also aided in the scoring for Gardner-Webb. The Runnin' Bulldogs notched 38 points in the paint, scoring 14 points off of turnovers, 10 fastbreak points, and the bench produced 33 points.
A Radford win would extend the winning streak to four games and mark the longest winning streak of the season. A loss would give Gardner-Webb their 10th win of the season and fifth conference victory. It would also extend the Runnin' Bulldog winning streak to three games.
In NCAA DI women's basketball, Radford as a team cracks the top-100 in fewest fouls at 52, personal fouls per game at 69, and scoring defense at 80. Khiana is 149th in the nation/fourth in conference for assists per game, and 143rd/4th in field goal attempts. Sydney is 177th/5th for blocked shots per game, and 198th/3rd in rebounds per game. Amele Ngwafang is 156th/2nd in rebounds per game. Makaila Wilson 245th/6th in three-point field goals per game.
Jen Falconer is one game away from tying Jayda Worthy (2014-18) for career games played at 123. Falconer & Johnson continue to climb the career assists ladder, Falconer is eighth at 297 and Johnson is ninth at 296. Sydney Nunley is now tied for sixth in individual career blocks at 112.
In non-conference play, Gardner-Webb concluded that stanza 6-4 before commencing Big South Conference play at Longwood. The Runnin' Bulldogs faced notable opponents like UNC-C (L), Wofford (W), App State (W), Furman (L), Virginia Tech (L), Mercer (W), and Georgia (L). Gardner-Webb is currently 4-4 in Big South play after facing every team but Radford and High Point. Most recently, the Runnin' Bulldogs took down the Bulldogs of Asheville, 65-59. After being down at the half by six points, they rallied back to outscore UNC Asheville 41-29 in the second half. GWU was 34.4 percent from the floor, including 26.3 percent from long distance. UNC Asheville was 24-of-63 (38.1 percent), but was 0-for-12 from beyond the arc. Alexis Hueston led the team with 12 points on a 6-of-11 performance. Gabrielle Caponegro recorded her first double-double of the season with an 11-point, 11-rebound outing, and Lauren Bevis added 11 points on the evening.
UP NEXT
Radford returns home to face the top-ranked, Campbell Camels on Tuesday, Jan. 28th at 6:00 p.m.
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