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Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Carlson131Recap
Rob Simmons
57
Winthrop Win 11-12,4-5 Big South
61
Winner Radford Rad 15-9,7-2 Big South
Winthrop Win
11-12,4-5 Big South
57
Final
61
Radford Rad
15-9,7-2 Big South
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Winthrop Win 17 11 17 12 57
Radford Rad 12 18 17 14 61

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Carlson Sinks Six Threes, Highlanders Hold Off Eagles

RADFORD, Va. – The Radford women's basketball team (15-9, 7-2 BSC) managed to fend off a feisty Winthrop team and defeat the Eagles 61-57 inside a snow-covered and closed to the public Dedmon Center on Saturday afternoon.

KEY STATS
  • After giving up a three to start the game, Radford defended the three-point arc and did not allow Winthrop to make another the rest of the game (0-for-12).
  • The Highlanders won a tightly-contested rebounding battle, 41-39.
  • Cate Carlson made a career-high six three-pointers, finishing six-for-eight from deep.
  • Georgia Simonsen matched a season high with 18 points.
  • With Longwood on a bye, the Highlanders take a half-game lead over the Lancers for second place in the Big South heading into Wednesday's matchup.
PLAY BY PLAY
Early fouls under the rim led to plenty of free throws being attempted early. Winthrop had eight quick points, with three coming from the line, to be ahead 8-1 a minute and a half in. Anaiah Jenkins scored Radford's first basket on a nice feed by Joi Williams to make it an 8-5 deficit with 7:50 left in the first. Winthrop continued to pull away before back-to-back trips with scores by Williams and Jenkins got Radford within one, but a cold stretch to end the period allowed the Eagles to pull out a 17-12 lead.

After going back-and-forth with plenty of turnovers to start the second, Angelina Nice gave the Highlanders their first tie since the tipoff with a trifecta, coming at the 6:22 mark. Simonsen answered a Winthrop make before Carlson sunk a couple more threes to give Radford a four-point advantage with 1:45 before half. Winthrop's Amourie Porter managed to drive the length of the court to hit a jumper with 0.4 ticks on the clock, making it 30-28 at halftime.

It looked like the Highlanders might've had a chance to pull away to start the third quarter. Another Carlson trifecta, sandwiched between layups for Kirah Dandridge and Ellie Taylor, had the Highlanders ahead by nine points. Radford prevented Winthrop from scoring until a steal and score just over four minutes into the second half. Unfortunately for the home side, Winthrop got some good looks, and a three-point play right before the end of the third to keep it a two-point game.

Williams finally made her first three-pointer to start the fourth quarter, a positive sign for one of Radford's best sharp shooters. That positivity was short lived, as Winthrop responded with a 7-0 run to take their first lead since back in the second quarter with 6:24 remaining. Radford responded with Carlson and Williams hitting threes on consecutive possessions to put the Highlanders back on top 56-52. Defensive play dominated the middle of the fourth chapter, with turnovers coming left and right. Neither team took great care of the ball, as the Highlanders totaled 23 turnovers and Winthrop 21. Simonsen finally broke through to score a crucial basket and put the Highlanders up five with 2:43 remaining. The Highlanders would continually get stops and prevent the Eagles from making it a one-possession game, with Simonsen helping by hitting a couple free throws in the final 30 seconds to preserve a 61-57 win.

McGUIRE QUOTABLE
"For both teams and all these student-athletes to have to play a conference game, change the schedule, and have to play in front of no crowd, I don't think people understand how challenging that is for young people," said Head Coach Mike McGuire in the postgame radio interview. "All the work that they put in, and it's gameday, and then you have to play a very important conference game with nobody here. I have a lot of respect and admiration for all the student-athletes who played today. I think it was hard for both teams. Obviously, this game was not easy. It's never easy (playing Winthrop). Today felt like a normal game with Winthrop. Just back-and-forth, physical, game of runs. Some fouling. It was not a pretty conference game at all by any stretch. We had to do enough down the stretch to make plays to win. I thought we rebounded a little better on the defensive end. In some ways, still very fortunate to come away with a win. But, a lot of credit to our ladies for doing this. Really had to do it on our own today. It kind of felt like a closed scrimmage or even like summer school. So, very difficult but very important win."

UP NEXT
Barring any more surprises from mother nature, the Highlanders will be back in action on Wednesday night against in-state foe Longwood. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. from the Joan Perry Brock Center in Farmville, Va. on ESPN+ and on WRAD Radford Sports Radio.

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
 
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