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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
AshlynTraylorWalker
Rob Simmons
65
Winner Radford Rad 5-10,1-0 Big South
61
High Point HP 5-9,0-1 Big South
Winner
Radford Rad
5-10,1-0 Big South
65
Final
61
High Point HP
5-9,0-1 Big South
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Radford Rad 20 14 14 17 65
High Point HP 23 12 20 6 61

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Ashlyn Drives Women’s Basketball to Incredible Comeback Win at High Point

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Radford women's basketball program picked up a huge win in their conference opener at High Point Wednesday night 65-61. The Highlanders trailed by as much as 11 points at the 7:28 mark in the fourth quarter before storming back for their first comeback win of the season.

Ashlyn Traylor-Walker highlighted the evening and showed off why she's the conference's leading scorer so far this season. The sophomore dialed up a career-high 27 points including seven in the final seven minutes of the game to lead the comeback. Ashlyn's five three-pointers were also a career-high and most in a single game by a Highlander this season. No Highlander has hit five or more three-pointers in a game since Bridget Birkhead in 2022.

Through the first quarter of action it was the Ashlyn and Joi Williams show as the duo combined for all 20 points. Coming off just being named Big South Freshman of the Week, Williams scored 12 of those 20 points and was electric with two made three-pointers. The two squads traded leads throughout the opening quarter, but it was High Point who held the early 23-20 edge.

High Point opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run to balloon the lead to 30-20. A layup by Maci Rhoades ended a four-minute scoreless streak for Radford and got the offense back in action. Ashlyn drilled a three-pointer and Terissa Lavoile-Brice hit back-to-back layups for a 9-0 Radford run that made it a 30-29 game.

A few free throws by Ellie Taylor and another three by Ashlyn had Radford briefly up 34-32 with 30 seconds left in the half. High Point responded with a three of their own, however, to hold the slim 35-34 advantage at halftime. Despite the Panthers shooting well over 50% through one half, the Highlanders were still in business.

A quick five points by Ashlyn would put Radford back out front 39-35 to start the second half. After going up 42-37 at the 7:03 mark thanks to yet another three by Ashlyn, Radford would not make another shot from the field for six minutes. That allowed High Point to begin to build it's largest lead of the night. Free throw makes from Williams and Taniya Hanner kept it just a 55-48 deficit headed into the final quarter.

A three-minute scoreless drought to start the fourth quarter seemed like it may be enough to seal the Highlanders fate. High Point earned its biggest lead of the night, 59-48, with just 7:28 left in the game.

Taniya Hanner, who came alive the later the game got, put Radford back on the board to stop the Panthers' run just as she did in the third quarter. Pa'Shence Traylor-Walker and Ashlyn hit huge three pointers and Hanner supplied four more points for a 14-0 Radford run to retake the lead 62-59 with 4:07 remaining.

In a game that featured offensive punch after offensive punch, it suddenly turned into a battle of defenses. Neither team scored for two minutes until High Point tightened things up at 62-61 with 1:53 remaining.

Once again, both teams saw near-misses that kept the score the same until the game came within its final 30 seconds. High Point held possession with 29 seconds left and would have the last shot opportunity. Despite having four team fouls in the quarter, Radford's defense did not let up.

After Pa'Shence almost created a huge turnover on High Point's inbound pass off a timeout, it was her sister Ashlyn who came up with the biggest steal on the next inbound pass. Ashlyn intercepted a pass coming from behind her back and slipped past the Panther defender and went coast-to-coast for an and-one that put Radford up 65-61. Williams would intercept the Panthers final inbound pass to seal the deal and earn Radford the big victory.

Radford now opens Big South play with a win in their first conference game for the second straight season. It's a critical win early on for Radford as High Point was selected as preseason favorites in the Big South's preseason poll. The last time Radford defeated High Point on the road was at the tail end of the 2019 season in double overtime. It's the Highlanders first-ever win inside the newly-built Qubein Arena which will later host the 2024 Big South Tournament.

NOTABLES
  • Ashlyn's 27 points mark a career-high for the sophomore, besting her previous high of 25 also on the road in a win against Western Carolina earlier this season.
  • Williams' 14 points ties a career-best for the freshman but is a career-high against Division I opponents. Her six assists and four steals were also career-highs as the newcomer is stepping up into a big role for the Highlanders.
  • Radford turned on the jets for 19 fastbreak points to High Point's 11 in the contest.
  • High Point out shot Radford 48% to 36% overall and 47% to 39% from three but were bested in a big way in points off turnovers. Radford scored 27 points off High Point's 23 turnovers.
  • Hanner dropped 10 points tonight, her sixth time in double figures this season and second time in the last three games.
  • 61 of Radford's 65 points came from their starting five with Taylor and Rhoades owning the only bench points.

AROUND THE BIG SOUTH
  • Charleston Southern upset Presbyterian 61-57 in Clinton, S.C. tonight behind 24 points from Catherine Alben and 42% shooting from three-point range by the Buccaneers.
  • Winthrop went on the road to take down Longwood in just the Lancers' fourth home game this season. Jada Ryce dropped 21 points for the Eagles and just missed a double-double with seven rebounds.
  • USC Upstate dominated in their conference home opener 71-44 over UNC Asheville behind big games from Trinity Johnson and Jeni Levine.

UP NEXT
The Highlanders have this weekend off as the other eight Big South schools continue the early portion of the conference schedule. After that, Radford is back at home for the first time in almost a month to play host to in-state rival Longwood on Wednesday, January 10th at 7 p.m. with action being streamed on ESPN+.
 
Follow Women's Basketball on Social Media
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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