RADFORD, Va. - The Highlanders will look to extend their winning streak as well as season sweeping ways against Gardner-Webb on Tuesday, Feb. 4th at 6:00 p.m.
Radford opened February with a season series sweep against Presbyterian. With this win, head coach Mike McGuire moved up on the Big South Conference all-time wins list. McGuire had four in double digit scoring to end the game, with Sydney Nunley leading the charge with her seventh double-double of the season. A 44-point second half for Radford pinned Presbyterian to only 23 points. Exiting halftime, the Highlanders went on to tally 21 points in the stanza. Nunley started off the period with a layup and moments later a split free throw trip. She was followed by Aiden Rainford to the line with the same outcome, these freebies put Radford ahead four points. Tina Lindenfeld's three-point basket prompted a Presbyterian timeout. Nunley's three-point play was followed by another set of free throws moments later, as the lead for the Highlanders entered double digits. To close out the period, four made Khiana Johnson free throws and a layup from Amele Ngwafang put Radford up by 16 points.Â
For her 19th career double-double, Nunley ended the game with a total of 18 points and 15 rebounds. She added a block on 6-for-10 shooting, plus six made free throws through 21 minutes.
Trinity Johnson did a little bit of everything for The Blue Hose today, leading her team with 15 points, five steals, two assists, five rebounds, with only one miss from the free throw line and from behind the arc.Â
Radford took down Gardner-Webb in Paul Porter Arena just less than 10 days ago, a feat not done since 2016-17 season. The Highlanders extended their winning streak to four-games with this win thanks to career performances as well as double-doubles from Khiana Johnson, Sydney Nunley, and Amele Ngwafang. Radford came out firing on all cylinders in the first period tallying a total of 26 points to Gardner-Webb's 15. Tina Lindenfeld opened up the scoring for the Highlanders going 3-for-3 from behind the arc, causing a Runnin' Bulldog timeout. In the second half, both teams posted 20-plus point periods. Radford garnered 46 points to Gardner-Webb's 44. Ngwafang's fourth career double-double came in a matter of 12 minutes. She ended the contest with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Both Johnson and Nunley set new career highs on the afternoon in total points. Johnson's newly set 22-points, paired with 10 assists to tie her career high, last done at ETSU this season. Nunley grabbed 11 boards and scored her new career high 25-points.Â
Savannah Plentovich played 28 minutes for Gardner-Webb and scored 30 points. She also had several steals, two assists, and a pair of rebounds. Plentovich made seven threes and was 10-for-14 from the floor.
A Radford win will add another season series sweep to Radford's resume and push the Highlanders to a two-game winning streak. A loss would extend Gardner-Webb's winning streak to three games and give the Runnin' Bulldogs their first win against the Highlanders since Jan. 6th during the 17-18 season.
In NCAA DI women's basketball, Radford as a team cracks the top-100 in fewest fouls at 52nd, 84th in field-goal percentage defense, 68th in personal fouls per game, and 61st in scoring defense. Khiana Johnson 138th/4th in assists and 129th/5th in assists per game. Amele Ngwafang is 114th/4th in free throw attempts and 179th/3rd and rebounds per game. Sydney Nunley in blocked shots 225th/6th and 132nd/2nd in rebounds per game.Â
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 311 and Falconer is eighth at 300. Sydney Nunley is now tied for sixth in individual career blocks at 113.
Since their first game against Radford, Gardner-Webb has played a pair of games against High Point and Charleston Southern at home in Boiling Springs, N.C. The Runnin' Bulldogs took both games against their opponents with a combined margin of 137-102.
In their latest contest versus CSU, Gardner-Webb won 67-45 back on Saturday, Feb. 1st. The Runnin' Bulldogs had three in double-digits and took control of the game early on. In the fourth, they scored eight unanswered points to take a game-high 30-point lead and ended the period on a 13-5 run.Â
Ki'Ari Cain led all scorers with a career-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-6 from long distance. Savannah Plentovich followed with 14 points on a 4-of-8 performance that included three made three-point baskets, and Williams added 11 points on the day.
UP NEXT
Radford travels to play Charleston Southern on Saturday, Feb. 8th at 3:00 p.m. on ESPN3.
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