Highlanders make it nine straight with victory over Longwood

Radford women victorious over Lancers Saturday

RADFORD, Va. – (via RadfordAthletics.com) The Radford women's basketball team shot a season-high 51 percent from the floor en route to an 81-52 victory against the Longwood Lancers, on Saturday afternoon at the Dedmon Center.  The Highlanders, who never trailed in the contest, have now won nine straight and improved to 9-1 on their home floor this season. Radford now has a two-game lead in the Big South standings with six games remaining.
 
Senior guard/forward Destinee Walker produced a team-high 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 3-for-6 from behind the arc.  Redshirt junior center Sydney Nunley recorded 17 points, four blocks and a team-high seven rebounds, while freshman guard Makaila Wilson added 13 points off the bench. Wilson hit all five of her field goal attempts, including 3-of-3 from long-distance.
 
Wilson explained that the team had some extra motivation playing on Play4Kay Day for Breast Cancer Awareness.
 
"We were playing for something bigger than ourselves today and it was for a bigger cause," Wilson stated. "We all talked about it in the locker room before the game about how cancer impacts so many people in our families and in our communities. We wanted to make sure that we were playing for those people that are affected and it definitely fired is up."
 
Radford (17-6, 11-1 Big South Conference), who amassed 20 assists for the game, shot a blistering 73.3 percent in the third quarter to put the game out of reach, extending a 12-point halftime lead to 27 points.
 
Longwood (3-20, 2-11 Big South Conference) was within 13-10 at the 2:18 mark of the opening quarter after a layup by forward Kristina Antonenko. However, Wilson drained her first trifecta of the ballgame and the Lancers were unable to get any closer for the remainder of the contest.
 
Dayna Rouse brought the visitors within 20-16 with 8:18 left in the second stanza but Nunley scored on back-to-back layups, both of which were set-up by redshirt junior point guard Jen Falconer, who distributed a season-high eight helpers.
 
The Lancers managed to keep the game in single-digits and trailed just 31-24 with 1:47 left in the half after a layup by Mallory Odell.  The Highlanders, however, rattled off seven consecutive points to take their largest lead of the half at 38-24 with 11 seconds left.  Walker ignited the run with a triple, redshirt junior forward Lydia Rivers and Nunley sprinkled in a free throw each and freshman guard Bryonna McClean finished a layup to account for the scoring.
 
Leading 38-26 at the break, Radford opened the third quarter on a 14-2 burst to widen their lead to 52-28 at the 5:30 mark.  Walker scored eight points during the stretch to lead the charge.
 
The hosts continued to build the lead and Nunley staked the team to a 30-point advantage, 63-33, with 1:52 left in the stanza.
 
Longwood, who was held to 31.3 percent shooting (20-of-64), was only able to get as close as 24 points, 72-48, with five minutes remaining in the contest.

Radford will travel to Winthrop on Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m.