BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb had three players score ten or more points as the Runnin' Bulldogs earned a 69-53 win over visiting Radford on Saturday afternoon.
Gardner-Webb (11-3, 1-1 Big South) had its most efficient scoring output of the season, shooting 51.0 percent (26-of-51) from the floor, while holding Radford (8-5, 1-1 Big South) to just 37.7 percent (23-of-61) on the day.
Alexus Hill led the Runnin' Bulldogs with 19 points, going 7-of-9 from the floor, including a perfect 3-of-3 from long distance.
Ky'Asia Stanford added a career-best 17 points on a 7-of-12 performance, and
Savannah Plentovich scored 15 points on an efficient 5-of-6 afternoon.
Radford was led in scoring by Jayda Worthy, who had a game-high 20 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Destinee Walker added 11 points from the bench
The Highlanders would start the game on a 6-0 run that was broken by a mid-range jumper by
Alexis Hueston with 6:29 on the clock. Radford would score on its next possession to go back up by six points at 8-2 on a driving layup by Worthy with 6:11 remaining that led to a GWU timeout.
The reset woke the Runnin' Bulldogs, as they would outscore Radford by a 20-3 margin for the remainder of the opening period. GWU closed the first quarter with 11 unanswered points over the final 2:44 to hold a 22-11 lead.
The two teams essentially traded baskets throughout the second period until the Highlanders would score in the final seconds on a jumper from Walker to trim Gardner-Webb's lead to eight points at 39-31 at halftime.
Gardner-Webb would start the second half on a hot streak, making four buckets on their first five attempts to build a 16-point margin at 47-31 with 6:27 on the clock. Radford would answer with a quick 4-0 spurt on back-to-back layups by Janayla White to pull back within 12 points with 4:32 to go. Both teams would essentially trade points throughout the remainder of the third period, with GWU hold a 12-point edge at 56-44.
Radford would hold Gardner-Webb scoreless over the first three minutes of the fourth period, while making two baskets to cut the lead to single digits at 56-48, but a nice mid-range jumper by Stanford with 6:39 would put the Runnin' Bulldogs on the board for the quarter and would give the team a double-digit lead they would maintain for the remainder of the contest.
Radford would go 0-for-6 from the floor over the next 5:43, while GWU went 8-for-8 from the free throw line during that stretch to build a game-high 18-point cushion at 66-48. The Highlanders would finally find the bottom of the net on a three-pointer by Walker with 56 seconds left, but GWU made 3-of-8 attempts from the charity stripe over the final minute to seal a 16-point win at 69-53.
Gardner-Webb returns to action on Tuesday, January 9 at Longwood. Tip-off is scheduled for 11:30 am as part of Education Day festivities, with live video available on the Big South Network (www.bigsouthsports.com).
