Radford University’s women’s basketball team was unable to overcome an early first quarter deficit to Gardner-Webb as Jayda Worthy’s second-straight 20-point game was not enough as the Highlanders fell 69-53 Saturday afternoon inside Paul Porter Arena.
Momentum was something the Highlanders struggled to regain after Worthy led the Highlanders to a fast start as Radford jumped out to a 10-4 lead through the first five minutes. Worthy opened the game 5 for 5 for a quick 10 points.
Worthy has tallied four straight double-figure performances, totaling 73 points on 30 of 51 shooting from the field. The senior has eight double-digit showings on the season.
The Highlanders assisted on the first five field goals, but would be held without a field goal for the final 5:12 of the opening quarter as Gardner-Webb finished on a 18-1 run, making 10 of 18 field goals.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs went 8 for 8 from the floor over the remaining 4:33 to build a 11-point advantage.
Radford battled back in the second 10-minute period as Claudia Quevedo drove baseline, finding Jen Falconer in the corner for a 3-pointer. The basket inched the Highlanders within 30-23 of the Runnin’ Bulldogs, but was pushed back to 12 points at the 2:55 mark.
Finishing the first half on an 8-4 run, Destinee Walker got an aerobatic mid-range jumper to fall to beat the clock as Radford went into the locker room trailing 39-31.
Walker tallied eight points in the second half to finish with her seventh double-figure performance on the season, making 3 of 9 attempts in the final 20 minutes.
The two teams traded baskets in the third quarter as the Highlanders made an attempt to cut the deficit to single-digits. Walker finished the quarter with a trailing 3-pointer behind Falconer to send the Highlanders into the final quarter trailing 56-44.
Worthy opened the fourth quarter with four straight points on two offensive rebounds as eight points would be as close as the Highlanders would get at 56-48.
After the two Worthy layups, Radford would go scoreless for a stretch of 7:14 as Gardner-Webb made 9 of 16 free throws down the stretch to close out the 16-point victory.
Radford falls to 4-4 when coming off a win on the season. Gardner-Webb’s 39 first half points are the most allowed by the Highlander defense this season.
Jayda Worthy made a season-high and individual team-high 10 field goals. Worthy also finished with seven rebounds, giving her 644 in her career to move into 58th in Big South history. Destinee Walker now has scored double-figures in four out of the last five games.
After shooting 57.1 percent from the field in the strong second quarter, Radford finished with a 37.7 field goal percentage, ending a streak to two straight 40-percent shooting games.
Lydia Rivers pulled down 10 rebounds for her fifth double-digit game on the season to give her 114 boards on the season. Dishing out 20-plus assists in the last two games, Radford only assisted on 10 of its 23 field goals.
Claudia Quevedo and Jen Falconer finished with three assists each. In the last five games, Radford has assisted on 113 of 181 made field goals.
Radford’s offense committed a season-low six turnovers, while only forcing eight Gardner-Webb miscues.
Alexus Hill paced three Runnin’ Bulldogs in double-figures, leading the way with 19 points, only scoring six in the second half. Gardner-Webb’s leading scorer Tierra Huntsman was held to a season-low four points on 1 of 11 shooting. Huntsman entered the game with a season average of 18.3 per game.
–RU Athletics
