RADFORD, Va. - The Highlanders will be looking to sweep the season series in this second contest against the Blue Hose. Radford also hopes to bounce back after dropping a tough game to league leading Campbell back on Tuesday, Jan. 28th. 

The Highlanders' fourth quarter momentum carried them back into the game but fell just short against the Fightin' Camels, 43-32. Sydney Nunley's bucket to start the fourth brought the deficit to 17 points but Campbell answered with 6-0 run to push the lead back up to 21 points. That didn't discourage Radford, and a layup in the paint from Aiden Rainford ignited a huge rally. In total, the Highlanders responded with a 16-0 that took up the remaining 5:05 of the period. Rainford, Jen Falconer, and Amele Ngwafang led the way in this momentum shifting stanza. Radford had now closed the gap between them and Campbell to seven points, forcing a Camel timeout.  Now in a clock management situation, the Highlanders were forced to draw quick fouls to elevate elongated Camel possessions. With five trips to the free throw line, Campbell converted on all five and extended their lead to 12 points with 28 seconds remaining in regulation. 

Radford outscored Campbell in the second half, 24-21, and increased their overall shooting to 32 percent while holding the Camels to 33.3 percent. The Highlander defense in the first period only gave up nine points, but were unable to garner no more than two for themselves. The shooting woes continued in the second period as Radford entered halftime with only eight points to the Camel's 22. Campbell was shooting 31 percent from the field and had drained six three-pointers. In comparison, Radford was only 2-for-22 from the field but was 67 percent from the charity stripe. 

Kianna Speight led the way for Campbell with her 11 points, and was the only double-digit scorer for the Camels. 

Ngwafang was one of the driving forces for Radford off the bench, producing 12 points and grabbing several boards through 22 minutes.

On the night of establishing a new program record for games played at 124, Falconer came alive for the Highlanders in the second half. Her contributions of eight points, two steals, an assist, and two rebounds helped lead the fourth quarter rally. Falconer was 3-for-6 from the floor and 50 percent from the three-point line.

Radford brought in the new year of versus Presbyterian at home, on Dec. 31st, 2019. The Highlanders' explosive fourth quarter propelled them past the Blue Hose in their Big South Conference opener. This victory notched Radford's fourth consecutive Big South Conference opening win and now in the McGuire era the Highlanders are 4-3 in conference openers. Multiple defensive stops paired with a combined 28 points from Khiana Johnson and Amele Ngwafang lifted the Highlanders to the 12-point win. Pace was key in this matchup, as Radford garnered 12 points from fast break possessions alone. The bench produced a 15 points. In this back-and-forth affair the score changed four times, and the lead seven. The Highlanders mounted a run to close out the contest beginning with a Johnson fast break three-pointer. This transition bucket ignited a 17-7 run to end the game. Almost every scoring possession from under four minutes for Radford either ended in free throws or a fast break basket. Presbyterian's seventh point came via a split trip to the charity stripe and closed the gap to eight points with only 30 seconds remaining. The Blue Hose fouled in attempt to get the ball back, but Johnson capped off the game going 4-for-4 from the line.

Trinity Johnson and Tionna Carter combined for 25 combined points and 12 rebounds. 

The all-time series now favors Radford 24-5.

A Radford win would bring the Highlanders' road total to 6-6 and put the Highlanders back in the win column after falling to Campbell on Jan. 28th. A loss would increase Presbyterian's winning streak to three and give head coach Alaura Sharp her first victory over McGuire and the Highlanders.

In NCAA DI women's basketball, Radford as a team cracks the top-100 in fewest fouls at 67th, personal fouls per game at 69th, and 73rd in scoring margin. Khiana Johnson is ranked 120th in assists, 125th in assists per game, and 129th in field goal attempts. Sydney Nunley is 220th in blocked shots per game and 171st in rebounds per game. Amele Ngwafang is 105th in free throw attempts and 169th in rebounds per game.

Jen Falconer set a new program record in career games played at 124 versus Campbell, and is on track to set another program record of games started at 124. Johnson and Falconer continue to climb the career assists ladder, Johnson is seventh at 308 and Falconer is eighth at 299. Sydney Nunley is now tied for sixth in individual career blocks at 112.

Since their first game against Radford, Presbyterian has played eight games and won three of them. Those victories were against Gardner-Webb, USC Upstate, and CSU. However, Blue Hose have five losses on their tab but are currently riding a two-game winning streak thanks to wins over the Spartans and Buccaneers. 

Most recently at CSU, Trinity Johnson recorded 11 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to pace the Presbyterian. Kacie Hall, Alessia Capley and Riley Hemm each hit fourth quarter threes as PC improved to 11-of-22 (.500) for the game compared to 1-of-12 (.083) for CSU. Despite a 15-7 run by the Bucs over the final seven minutes of the game, Presbyterian hung on to pick up their second straight Big South win, 67-46.

The 44 points Presbyterian scored in the first half were the most points they've had in a half since scoring 47 against Brevard on December 21.

UP NEXT 
Radford will go round two with Gardner-Webb back in the Dedmon Center on Tuesday, Feb. 4th at 6:00 p.m.

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