Radford Outbattles Valparaiso, Opens Cleveland State Invitational with Win

Wednesday, November 26

Cleveland, OH

3:00 PM

Radford University

5-3,0-0Big South

Valparaiso

0-6,0-0MVC

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Valparaiso	13	18	15	15	61
Radford	21	17	17	13	68

Photo by: Radford Athletics Communications

Radford Outbattles Valparaiso, Opens Cleveland State Invitational with Win

11/26/2025 6:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

CLEVELAND – The Radford women's basketball team (5-3) played strong defensively to win their third straight, taking down Valparaiso (0-6) 68-61 on Wednesday afternoon at the Woodling Gymnasium.

KEY STATS

Cate Carlson led the team with 15 points, coming off a team-leading four three-pointers.
Post players found plenty of success, with Georgia Simonsen scoring 12, Anaiah Jenkins scoring 9, and Anna Stromberg adding 9.
The Highlanders benefitted from 25 Valparaiso turnovers, with 13 being unforced.

PLAY BY PLAY
The Beacons held their own until the first media timeout. Valparaiso led 9-5 at one point before a Joi Williams three and a couple of Simonsen buckets in the paint put Radford up by three. Stromberg close the opening quarter with some baskets made from underneath, making it 21-13 Highlanders after 10 minutes.

Radford's 14-4 run from the late first to the early second quarter continued with a Jenkins corner three-pointer. Simonsen followed by working her defender underneath, then kissing a layup off glass for another easy two. The lead ballooned up to 32-19 after another Jenkins basket from the paint with 6:12 left before halftime. However, the Beacons began to chip away by drawing fouls on the offensive end. They finished the first half a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Valparaiso answered Ellie Taylor's three in the final seconds to trail 38-31 at the break.

The Highlanders were ice cold coming out of the locker room from the floor, which gave the Beacons a beacon of hope. Some more made free throws, at that point 12-straight made, tied the game at 40-40 with 7:25 left in the third. Radford responded with a 6-0 run that included some layups on dribble-drives by Radford guards and strong defensive rebounding that limited Valparaiso's possessions. The pinch of the game was a technical foul assessed to a Valparaiso player after a jump ball call. What followed was a Highlander 9-3 run that included a huge trifecta by Carlson near the end of the third quarter.

The defense stepped up in the fourth to help put away any hope for Valparaiso. Some fast-break threes by Carlson and Angelina Nice kept Radford's lead at 10 points with under seven minutes left to play. Valparaiso managed to score just a few more times the rest of the way, then had to start fouling Radford to force them to the line. The Highlanders made five-of-six from the line late, plenty enough to go out with a 68-61 win.

McGUIRE QUOTABLE
"We did not play well today but found a way to win our first road game of the season," said Head Coach Mike McGuire. "Every year, you have to learn how to win on the road and sometimes it is ugly. Offensively, we seemed to be off today and weren't good enough on the boards. I thought Cate and Anna did an excellent job of executing their role and giving us a big lift today. There is a lot we can take from this game to improve moving forward."

UP NEXT
After taking a day for Thanksgiving, the Highlanders are back in action Friday for day two of the Cleveland State Invitational. They'll face St. Bonaventure at 4:00 p.m. at Woodling Gymnasium. There will be a YouTube stream, while you can also listen to all Radford women's basketball games on WRAD 1460 AM and at wradradio.com/ruwbb.

Follow Women's Basketball on Social Media
For more information on the Radford women's basketball team, follow @Radford_WBB on X and Instagram or Radford Women's Basketball on Facebook.
#RadfordTough | #RiseAndDefend