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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
mcclean
53
UNC Asheville UNC-A 6-7,5-3 Big South
74
Winner Radford Rad 2-6,2-4 Big South
UNC Asheville UNC-A
6-7,5-3 Big South
53
Final
74
Radford Rad
2-6,2-4 Big South
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
UNC Asheville UNC-A 14 12 10 17 53
Radford Rad 15 17 16 26 74

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Stifling Defense Earns Series Split for Radford

RADFORD, Va. – Taiye Johnson scored a career-high 16 points to lead a balanced effort Saturday afternoon, as Radford cruised to a 74-53 win over UNC Asheville inside the Dedmon Center.
 
The win was Radford's second in the last three games, and its fifth win in its last seven contests against UNC Asheville. Radford held the Bulldogs to its lowest shooting percentage of the season at 26.5 percent and won the rebounding margin by 16.
 
Tina Lindenfeld had 13 points and five rebounds for the Highlanders, while Bryonna McClean added 10 points and seven rebounds for Radford. The Highlanders had five players record seven or more points and five with five or more rebounds.
 
Similar to the start of Friday's game, Radford and UNC Asheville went back-and-forth in the first quarter, with 3-pointers by Makaila Wilson and Lindenfeld helping the Highlanders jump out to a 15-8 lead before back-to-back treys from the Bulldogs' Kai Carter cut the Radford lead to one, 15-14, after the opening period.
 
Radford maintained its lead throughout the early stages of the second quarter, but the Bulldogs answered each made shot with one of their own. UNC Asheville managed to retake the lead midway the second quarter but Kyanna Morgan converted a three-point play with 4:36 left in the quarter that gave the Highlanders the lead once again. Radford never trailed from that point on. The basket sparked an 8-0 run for the Highlanders and helped send Radford to halftime with a 32-26 lead.
 
The Highlander defense came up strong throughout the third quarter. Radford limited UNC Asheville to a 2-for-18 shooting performance, including 0-for-3 from beyond the arc, and outrebounded the Bulldogs by six in the period. Raquel Cassidy hit a pair of free throws early in the quarter for the visitors to cut the lead to 32-28, but that was the last time the lead got below five points. Johnson scored six of her team-leading 16 points in the quarter, while Wilson and Lindenfeld connected from long range late in the quarter to push the Highlander lead to 12, 48-36, after 30 minutes.
 
Radford opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run that pushed the lead to 20 points, 56-36. The Highlanders scored on each of their first four possessions in the quarter, breaking down UNC Asheville's defensive pressure in the process. Carter cut into the Radford lead with a personal 5-0 run to bring the deficit for UNC Asheville down to 14, 58-44, but McClean and Ashley Tudor combined to score six of the next nine points in the contest to push the lead back to 64-47. The Highlanders shot 9-for-11 from the field in the quarter and, despite UNC Asheville's press defense, still put up 26 points in the final frame to close out a 74-53 win, its largest of the season.
 
Carter led all scorers with 17 for UNC Asheville, while Faith Adams added 10 for the Bulldogs. Radford limited Nadiria Evans, the Big South's leading scorer, to just seven points on a 3-for-16 shooting clip. Evans also went scoreless in the second half.
 
QUOTABLE
"I thought today was a great bounce-back by our team. For us to respond within 24 hours and play a really good program like [UNC] Asheville and come away with a 20-point win is a great step for our team. We need to play, we're a little bit behind the eight ball in playing a number of games right now, but for us to grow up a lot within two days and play a better second half to come away with a win is a good step for a young team. I'm very encouraged, very proud of our team for how we responded and played today."
- Head coach Mike McGuire on the win
 
"I'm taller than most of the players in the league, so I have to use that to my advantage. I saw that most of the players who were guarding me were guarding me from behind. I've been working in practice when everyone is [guarding] me from behind to go aggressive to the basket."
- Sophomore center Taiye Johnson on what allowed her to score a career-high 16 points
 
UP NEXT
The Highlanders begin a three-game road swing Tuesday evening at Hampton. Tipoff is set for 6 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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