Box Score (PDF)
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.- Gardner-Webb outscored Radford 34-23 in the second half and shot 50.0% from the field, while holding the Highlanders to just 28.6% in the final 20 minutes, as the Runnin' Bulldogs defeated the Highlanders 54-50, in a Big South Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon in Paul Porter Arena.
With the victory, Gardner-Webb improves to 13-6 overall and is tied for first place in the conference with a 7-2 record, while Radford falls to 10-8 and 6-3 in conference play.
The Runnin' Bulldogs were held to their second lowest scoring total of the season, but shot 40.0% in the second half and knocked down 4-of-10 from behind the three-point arc.
Alexus Hill paced GWU with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor and Olivia Parker added 12, while Janayla White had 15 points and an incredible 21 rebounds. Jayda Worthy and Aisa Foy also were in double-figures for the Highlanders with 13 and 11 points respectively.
Radford outrebounded Gardner-Webb 51-30 including 18-5 on the offensive glass, but GWU did a great job of limiting the second chance opportunities holding the Highlanders to just 11 second chance points.
While being held to its second lowest rebounding total of the season, the Runnin' Bulldogs gutted out the win, forcing 18 turnovers by Radford and knocked down 7-of-17 from three and held the Highlanders to just 2-of-9 from long-distance.
Kiera Currie came off the bench and hit two big three-pointers to spark a 11-2 run late in the third quarter run to cut the GWU defecit to three heading into the final quarter, as the Bulldogs totaled 11 points from the reserves compared to just five for RU.
Radford jumped out quickly to a 7-0 lead over the first three minutes and led by as much as nine, as the Highlanders held the lead for the entire first period, with Alexis Jackson connecting on an jumper to give the visitors an 18-14 lead after 10 minutes.
White's layup with just under seven minutes to go in the half pushed the Radford lead to 10, and the Highlanders held GWU to just one point over the final 3:23 and took a 27-20 advantage into halftime.
Radford opened the third period on a 12-5 run to take a 39-27 lead with 4:40 left, but Currie drilled two three-pointers which was sandwiched in between a jumper by Ky'Asia Stanford as GWU chipped into the RU lead trailing 43-40 after 30 minutes of play.
Hill's fourth three-point shot of the day gave the Runnin' Bulldogs their first lead of the game 48-46 with 3:41 left in regulation and just over a minute later, Hill struck again to put the Dogs' ahead for good.
Candace Brown hit 4-of-4 from the free-throw line in the final 10 seconds to seal the victory for Gardner-Webb and give GWU its sixth straight victory.
Gardner-Webb returns to action Tuesday, when it travels to Lynchburg, Va. to face Liberty at 7:00 p.m. and the chance to sweep the regular-season series with the flames for the first time since 2009-10.
