MATTHEWS, N.C. – Jada Newton put Gardner-Webb on the board in the 20^th minute, but the Radford Highlanders used a pair of second half goals to claim the Big South championship for the second year in row.

The 2-1 victory gives Radford the Big South's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

"I'm extremely proud of the team for coming back from where we started with zero wins and seven losses," said head coach Mike Varga. "To get to the championship shows a lot of character and heart. They showed a lot throughout the season. I am very proud of the team; we just couldn't get things finished today."

Gardner-Webb (10-11-1) earned the first corner kick in the match, which Stina Kleppe took in the third minute of the contest, but it was Radford that had the first attempt on goal.

The Highlanders' first shot of the afternoon came in the 13^th minute and was off target, but in the 15^th minute of play, Radford's leading scorer, Nelia Perez, challenged Katelyn Kellogg who made the first of her three saves in the opening half.

In the 20^th minute, Jada Newton broke a scoreless tie with a shot a yard from the goal. Newton's attempt hit off a defender while in the air and landed just past Radford's Courtenay Kaplan inside the near post to give Gardner-Webb the 1-0 lead.

Kellogg made her second save of the half in the 25^th minute, and 2:04 later, the Runnin' Bulldogs challenged the Highlanders' Kaplan for the second time in the match.

Maddie Turlington, Gardner-Webb's assists leader, took the shot on goal for the 'Dogs, but it was saved by Kaplan.

For Gardner-Webb, Kellogg made her final save of the half in the 31^st minute, saving an attempt from Lily McLane.

With two-thirds of the opening half complete, Radford began to control possession, earning a corner kick in the 33^rd and back-to-back attempts in the 38^th minute. Radford scored three times off set pieces in its 3-2 semifinal win over Campbell but was unable to net a goal in the first half.

At the half, Gardner-Webb held a 1-0 lead over the Highlanders despite having possession just 40 percent of the time.

As the second half began, Kleppe took the first attempt of the final half, which landed high of the net, but Radford took the next six attempts of the match and equalized in the 60^th minute. 

With 30 minutes remaining in regulation, Turlington fouled a Radford player, which set up a free kick for the Highlanders' Lily McLane from 20 yards out on the right side of the field.

McLane, the Highlanders' leader in assists, scored her second goal of the year, sending it past Kellogg into the upper left corner of the net.

Radford (16-5-0) tied the match on McLane's goal in the 60^th minute, and eight minutes later, Turlington nearly equalized.

Following a scrum in the box, the sophomore forward controlled the ball and attempted to head it into the net, but it hit off the crossbar and out of bounds for a Radford goal kick.

It would be another 16 minutes before the 'Dogs put another shot on goal with Kylie Ameres' attempt in the 77^th minute being collected by Kaplan. Kleppe's shot with 10:15 remaining on the clock was also saved by Kaplan.

Radford pulled ahead just 23 seconds after Kleppe's attempt when Nelia Perez received a pass from Gabi Paupst and broke ahead of the Gardner-Webb defense, placing the ball past Kellogg into the upper 90.

Gardner-Webb was unable to erase the 2-1 deficit with Newton's attempt on goal with six minutes remaining being the 'Dogs' final shot of the match.

The Highlanders outshot Gardner-Webb, 18-11, including 11-5 over the final 45 minutes. The 'Dogs placed five of their 11 attempts on target, while the Highlanders placed 33 percent (6-of-18) shots on goal. Radford held a 6-4 advantage in corners.

With the 2-1 win, Radford improves to 16-5-0 overall and receives the Big South Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Highlanders will find out their opponent during Monday's selection show at 4:30 p.m. The Runnin' Bulldogs conclude 2019 with a 10-11-1 record.

Gardner-Webb placed three players on the All-Tournament team - Newton, Kleppe and Kellogg. 

"It's always motivating," said head coach Mike Varga. "We obviously have the players to show that last year wasn't a fluke. We made it back to the championship game, and I thought it (the victory) was right there in our grasp. We didn't quite get over the finish line, but we're at a point with our program that this is the expectation."

For the latest on Gardner-Webb women's soccer, follow @GWUwsoc on Twitter and Instagram.