For the second consecutive year, UNC Asheville ended Radford’s hopes at a Big South Championship as the Highlanders went cold from the field in the second half, falling 60-50 in Saturday’s semifinal nightcap.
The third seeded Bulldogs held No. 2 Radford to a 27.8 field goal percentage in the final 20 minutes after the Highlanders shot 43.5 percent in the opening half. UNC Asheville countered with a 57.1 field goal percentage in the second half, finishing with a 51.1 clip for the game, making 23 of 45 attempts.
For the game, Radford shot 33.9 percent, making 20 of 59 attempts, adding 14 points in transition. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Highlanders 38-25, turning eight offensive boards into 13 points.
The first half saw neither team collect much separation as the Highlanders went into the locker room with a 26-25 lead. In the half, both teams led for almost eight minutes apiece. Radford’s largest lead of the game came on back-to-back jumpers by Khiana Johnson in the second quarter for a 19-15 edge.
Johnson tallied six of her team-high 12 points in the second quarter, leading all scorers with eight first half points on 4 of 8 shooting.
UNC Asheville opened the second half on a 11-3 swing as a 9-0 run forced the Highlanders to call a timeout. Radford made only 3 of 16 attempts in the quarter as the Bulldogs built a 42-36 advantage after three quarters of play.
Down to the final 10 minutes of play, Radford opened the fourth quarter with four straight points as Claudia Quevedo’s fifth steal of the game led to a Jayda Worthy breakaway layup. A UNC Asheville turnover on the next possession led to a Khiana Johnson pull-up jumper, inching Radford within 42-40 early in the quarter.
UNC Asheville rattled off a 11-2 run after the Highlanders cut the deficit to two points, building the lead to 11 with 2:38 remaining in regulation.
Radford’s defense forced three turnovers in the final two minutes of a desperation attempt to cut into the Bulldog lead. The Highlanders forced 19 turnovers in the game, resulting in 16 points. Eight points would be as close as Radford would get in the closing minutes, falling 60-50 in the 2017 title rematch.
UNC Asheville’s 60 points is the most allowed by the Highlander defense since a 61-56 loss to Liberty on Jan. 28 inside the Vines Center. The Highlanders only allowed Big South teams to score above 60 points four times on the season, resulting in losses.
The Bulldogs shot over 50 percent, which is only the second Big South team to do so on the season against the Radford defense.
Radford shot under 40-percent in back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 9/Jan. 13. The Highlanders allowed only seven teams to shoot over 40 percent on the season, falling to 1-6 in those games.
UNC Asheville held a 30-20 edge in the paint, marking only the ninth time on the season Radford was beat inside. With the loss, Radford falls to 17-2 when leading at halftime and 11-4 when winning the turnover battle.
The Highlanders fall to 15-7 all-time as the No. 2 seed and 14-8 in semifinal play. With the win, Mike McGuire improves to 4-4 in the Big South Tournament.
Khiana Johnson led Radford in scoring for the fourth time on the season with 12 points on 6 of 19 shooting. Jayda Worthy finished with 11 points and eight rebounds in her final Big South game of her career. Connecting for three field goals, Worthy is five from becoming the fifth player in program history with 500 made field goals.
Janayla White and Destinee Walker finished with nine points each. White finished with two blocks, needing only one more for ninth all-time in Big South history.
Claudia Quevedo finished with five of Radford’s nine steals, matching a career best for the redshirt junior. Quevedo dished out three-plus assists for the 16th time on the season, finishing with exactly three.
“We have to credit UNC Asheville for playing an exceptional game. They really threw the first punch in the second half and took the lead, which was something we were unable to overcome. I thought we played hard, but we struggled offensively. The girls are feeling pretty down; however, they have a lot to be proud of.” ~ Radford head coach Mike McGuire
–RU Athletics
