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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Makaila Brown
39
Lees-McRae LMC 0-3,0-1 Conference Carolinas
95
Winner Radford Rad 2-3,0-0 Big South
Lees-McRae LMC
0-3,0-1 Conference Carolinas
39
Final
95
Radford Rad
2-3,0-0 Big South
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Lees-McRae LMC 8 13 12 6 39
Radford Rad 23 26 21 25 95

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Freshmen Lead the Way in Dominant Win Over Lees-McRae

RADFORD, Va. – The Radford Women's Basketball program responded with a dominant 95-39 victory over Lees-McRae on Wednesday afternoon. Radford's freshman core broke out for a combined 42 points and 13 rebounds in the game.

The scoring started early, and the Highlanders did not let up through the full 40 minutes as Jackie Christ was the first of 11 Radford players to make their way onto the score sheet. Two minutes into the game it was Carmen Williams hitting her first of four three-pointers on the day to give Radford a 5-2 lead. Rachel LaLonde got Radford on the board again with fast break points foreshadowing her strong offensive showing on the day.

Williams hit two more three-pointers coming out of the media break mid-way through the first allowing Radford to start to pull away with a 13-2 lead. Vanessa Blake scored a fast break layup with three minutes left in the first quarter to make it a 15-2 lead and a 13-0 run. Danielle Montelbano put a cherry on top of the great first quarter for Radford with a buzzer-beating floater making it 23-8 just 10 minutes into the game.

The incredible offensive pace continued into the second quarter as the Highlanders went on an 8-0 run including Makaila Brown's first points of the season and the start to her breakout performance. Brown put up 10 points in the second quarter which was more than double the total of the next closest player on both teams. Ashley Tudor and Kyanna Morgan also came alive for a total eight points and five assists.

Coming out of halftime with a 49-21 lead Radford continued their hot pace led by Blake who caught fire for 11 points. The freshman excelled in the paint creating her points there and drawing multiple fouls. Blake finished the quarter hitting seven of the eight free throws she attempted. LaLonde also was a perfect 2-2 from the field and 2-2 from the free throw line to total six points in the quarter.

The final quarter of the game was the most dominant for the Highlanders as they outscored the Bobcats 25-6. Bridget Birkhead found her rhythm after missing the last two games by totaling eight points with two made three-pointers. Brown also stayed hot with four rebounds, four points and two rebounds. Radford's ball control was near-perfect as they only committed one turnover to Lees-McRae's seven.

Overall, in the game Radford won the turnover battle by a wide margin of 12 only committing 13 on the day which is a season low. Tudor, Morgan and Birkhead all notched two or more steals in the defensive effort. The Highlanders shared the ball all game totaling 26 assists, a season high and their first time scoring 20 or more assists since recording 23 in 2013 against Winthrop. Nine players recorded two or more assists, but Tudor led the way with five. Radford also rebounded the ball well out pacing Lees-McRae 46-25 on the boards. Brown flirted with a double-double as she pulled down eight rebounds, while Tudor also pulled down eight as she was close to putting up triple-double numbers.

QUOTABLE
"I thought we took a good step today. I see a lot of positives in the box score and a lot of contributions from a lot of different people. Carmen and Makaila definitely stepped up and played well. We have some really tough mid major programs coming up on the schedule and those are games we really need to ramp up for. Today was a good step in the right direction and gave us a boost in confidence. Makaila and Vanessa's connection against Lees-McRae's two-three zone was really good. They saw each other, stayed poised and we really got to see what Makaila can do for us. Vanessa is going to be really good on the boards for us and brings energy as a player. Carmen also gave us a great start with a handful of threes." -Head Coach Mike McGuire. 
 
NEXT UP
The Highlanders are back on the road this weekend as they travel to UNC Wilmington for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday.
 
FOLLOW RADFORD WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
To follow the Radford women's basketball team throughout the season, visit RadfordAthletics.com, follow @Radford_WBB on Twitter, 'radford_wbb' Instagram or Radford Women's Basketball on Facebook.
 
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