Radford returned to the win column Saturday afternoon with their 11th consecutive win inside the Dedmon Center as the Highlanders dished out 17 assists on 28 field goals in a 74-49 dominating win over Winthrop to remain atop the Big South standings.
In their 21st game of the season, Radford placed four in double-figures for the seventh time on the season. Jayda Worthy led the way with a game-high 15 points and 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double on the season. Claudia Quevedo finished with a season-high 14 points, while dishing out a career-high five assists.
Destinee Walker and Khiana Johnson rounded out the Highlanders in double-digits. Walker contributed 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Johnson followed with 11 points, two assists and two blocks off the bench.
Radford opened the game with 27 first quarter points, the most on the season for the Highlanders. Quevedo (8), Walker (7) and Worthy (6) combined for 21 of Radford’s 27 points.
In the quarter, Radford collected eight assists on 12 made field goals.
Quevedo knocked down two 3-pointers in the quarter, scoring all eight of her points in the final 2:39 of the quarter. The redshirt sophomore hit a 3-pointer from the right wing off a Rachael Ross pass and collected a steal for a fast break layup to send the Highlanders into the second quarter with a 27-11 lead.
Winthrop used an 11-4 run to cut the Radford lead to 31-22 with 5:39 remaining in the first half. Teylahna Green contributed six points during the Eagle run.
The Highlanders answered back with six straight points as neither team scored in the final 2:50 of the first half as Radford went into the locker room with a 37-22 lead. The Eagles outscored the Highlanders 11-10 in the quarter and tallied four points off five Radford miscues.
Radford came out of halftime looking to extend their lead. The Highlanders built off their 6-0 run, ballooning it to a 14-0 run.
The quarter opened on Quevedo’s third 3-pointer off Walker’s third assist, followed by a Sydney Nunley layup. Walker moved Radford’s lead to 23 points (45-22) on another Radford 3-pointer at the 8:14 mark.
Following the 14-0 run, Winthrop used a 10-2 edge over the next three minutes to move the deficit to 47-32. The Eagles continued to chip at the Radford lead, scoring the first four points of the final quarter, forcing head coach Mike McGuire to burn a timeout.
The timeout paid off as the Highlanders went on a 17-4 run to push the advantage to 27 points (70-43) with just under two minutes left to play. Johnson sparked the run with an impressive layup off a strong drive to the basket, getting fouled in act and finishing off the free throw to ignite the run.
Radford made six of their eight free throws of the quarter during the run and Quevedo sunk her fourth 3-pointer of the contest as Radford finished off a dominating 74-49 victory.
Radford improves to 4-1 on the season when coming off a loss. The win also improves the Highlanders to 29-5 against the Eagles inside the Dedmon Center.
Radford finished with a 44.4 field goal percentage, marking the third straight game over 40-percent and the seventh in Big South play.
The Highlander defense held its fifth opponent on the season to under 50 points.
Jayda Worthy has scored double-figures in 15 games on the season with nine coming in Big South play. Worthy has led the Highlanders in rebounds 11 times on the season, while leading the team in points five times. She has tallied 148 of her 251 points in league games. Of Worthy’s 11 rebounds, six came on the offensive glass. She has seven games of six-plus offensive rebounds, including six in Big South play.
Claudia Quevedo’s season-high 14 points came on a career matching four 3-pointers. Quevedo has made 18 of her 31 3-pointers in Big South play.Dishing out five assists, Quevedo’s previous career best was set on Jan. 24, 2015 against High Point. Destinee Walker has now scored double-digits in 17 of Radford’s 21 games.
Six of Khiana Johnson’s 10 double-figure performances have come in league contests.
In a season-high 20 minutes, Rachael Ross set season highs in four categories. She finished with eight points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Six Highlanders combined for 17 assists as all six players dished out two-plus assists.
Radford’s forced 16 Winthrop turnovers, scoring 15 points off the miscues. Of the 15 offensive rebounds corralled, Radford tallied 15 points off the boards.
Holding Winthrop players to single-digits for a majority of the game, Erica Williams poured in six points in the final 10 minutes to give the Eagles their lone player in double-figures with 12 points on 5 of 17
“Any time we are all on the same page with our ball movement our team is that much more versatile. We did a really good job against Winthrop’s zone today with ball reversals and inside-out passing. For the most part, we made good decisions. This is how I would like to play offense every game. I thought our defense was solid today. We knew we had to do a really good job on Erica Williams. She is a three-level scorer that can get hot and take over a game. We contested most of her shots and forced her to take some fade-a-ways. Any time we can hold an opponent to under 50 points, it’s a good team effort.” said Radford head coach Mike McGuire.
–RU Athletics
