RADFORD, Va. - The Highlanders wrapped their most successful month of play, going 7-1 in February, ending on a high note after a comeback win at Winthrop. Radford (15-12, 13-5 BSC) will seek out another redemptive win and season series split, as they look ahead to UNC Asheville (15-12, 9-9 BSC) on Wednesday, Mar. 4th at 6:00 p.m.
The Highlanders trailed the Eagles, at its largest, by a margin of 12-points in the Saturday evening contest. The Highlanders were able to reverse that deficit for their sixth Big South Conference season series sweep of the 2020 campaign, 56-50. The Eagles led 26-19 over the Highlanders at halftime.
Radford's response in the second half kept Winthrop to their lowest scoring total of 10 points, in the fourth period. The Highlanders struck first in the third period, thanks to yet another complete trip at the charity stripe for Nunley. Bryonna McClean followed in her teammates' footsteps and went 2-for-2 during her time at the free throw line. But, a trifecta of Eagle baskets pushed their lead back out to double digits at 11. Down the stretch Radford got involvement from Amele Ngwafang at the free throw line, Nunley in the paint, a jumper from Johnson, and three-pointers from Makaila Wilson as well as a transition trey from Jen Falconer. The Highlanders closed out the third only down by two, 38-40.
The initial tie came via a jumper from Ngwafang to put the game at 42 all. Winthrop battled back into contention and tied the game at 45 on a jumper inside the paint. Nunley notched the next seven points for Radford with help from her fellow senior, Johnson, to propel the Highlanders to a 54-47 lead. However, a split Eagle trip to the line and a layup brought them within four of the visitors. Free throws from Johnson and Ngwafang would be the final baskets for either team down the stretch, en route to Radford's six-point victory.
The last time the Highlanders faced the Bulldogs, Radford posted a game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to lead the surge back into the contest against UNC Asheville. The Highlanders were locked in on both sides of the ball, but the Bulldogs were able to withstand the frenzy, 63-50. At the half, Radford only trailed by three with Tina Lindenfeld leading the way with eight points and four rebounds. The Highlanders put in a lot of work to get to that point, however.
Down 18 points heading into the final quarter of play, Johnson's layup in the paint came quickly after the horn to commence the stanza. Coming off of a UNC Asheville turnover, Wilson drained a three-pointer thanks to that igniting basket from Johnson. Rachel LaLonde, who has just subbed into the game, wasted no time and got her layup to go. The Bulldog lead had been trimmed to 11 points before the jumper from Sonora Dengokl.
LaLonde returned to the painted area moments later for another tough layup inside. Nunley, Ngwafang, Lindenfeld, and Wilson rounded out the scoring for the Highlanders in this couplet. The final basket came from Wilson, the jumper shaved the deficit to 13. Radford was able to hold the opposition to 12 points in this quarter.
UNC Asheville's Brooke Jordan-Brown tallied a double-double with 10 points and, a game high, 17 rebounds. Nadiria Evans led all scorers in the contest with 26 points. The Bulldogs ended the game with four with 10 or more points.
Lindenfeld and Wilson led the Highlanders in scoring, combining for 20 points. Lindenfeld added a steal, an assist, and five rebounds in the bout. Wilson was 50 percent from deep through her 21 minutes of play.
A Radford win would give the Highlanders the season series split at 1-1 and extend the winning streak to three games. A Radford loss would give UNC Asheville the season series sweep and put the Bulldogs back in the win column.
In NCAA DI women's basketball, Radford as a team cracks the top-100 in fewest fouls at 29th in defensive rebounds, 66th in fewest fouls, 43rd in field-goal percentage defense, 94th in personal fouls per game, 72nd in rebound margin, 69th in rebounds per game, 69th in rebounds per game, and 39th in scoring defense. Johnson is 78th in assists and 77th in assists per game. Ngwafang is 34th in free throw attempts, 87th in free throws made, and 136th in rebounds per game. Sydney Nunley is 158th in rebounds per game. Makaila Wilson is 161st in three-point field goals per game.
In the Big South, Johnson is 15th in scoring, fourth in assists, sixth in and assist-to-turnover ratio. Nunley is 18th in scoring, fourth in rebounding, second in field goal percentage, seventh in blocked shots, ninth in offensive rebounds, and third in defensive rebounds. Ngwafang is 28th in scoring, second in rebounding, 14th in free throw percentage, second in offensive rebounds, and 10th in defensive rebounds. Aiden Rainford is 20th in rebounding 15th in blocked shots, and 11th in offensive rebounds. Wilson is second three-point field goal percentage and sixth in three-point field goals made.
Since their first game against Radford, Winthrop has played 12 games and gone 4-8 during that period. The Bulldogs have only two games remaining including the Highlanders and one away trip to High Point.
Most recently, Asheville traveled to Gardner-Webb and fell 55-85. Evonna McGill led the Bulldogs in scoring for the first time this season as the sophomore center scored 13, just missing her career high of 15. Brooke Jordan-Brown and Zip Scott each just missed on double-digits as they both finished with nine points. Jordan-Brown also corralled seven rebounds. Gardner-Webb took control of the game early as they scored 27 points in the first 10 minutes of play. The Runnin' Bulldogs hit three shots from three during their high-scoring first quarter.
Gardner-Webb's third quarter success carried over into the fourth as UNC Asheville could not stop the Runnin' Bulldogs' offense. Gardner-Webb outscored UNC Asheville 46-24 in the second half of the game.
UP NEXT
Radford will return to the Dedmon Center to face Hampton on senior day, Saturday, Mar. 7th at 2:00 p.m.
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