Highlanders Overwhelm Winthrop, 88-50
Porter Reaches 100 Victories

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Radford (12-13) shot 52.5 percent and had five players score double figures as the Highlanders overwhelmed Winthrop (2-23, 0-12), 88-50, from the Winthrop Coliseum this evening. The win marked Head Coach Jeri Porter's 100th career victory in her seventh season.

The victory snapped a six-game road losing streak and evened RU’s Big South record to 6-6 and a tie for fourth with Charleston Southern. It also was the most points scored by Radford in a Big South game since a 90-77 victory over Coastal Carolina on Feb. 16, 1998.

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Senior Jesse Brunjak (Ooltewah, Tenn.) and sophomore Shavon Earp (Hampton, Va.) led RU with a game high 17 points apiece. Earp added seven rebounds, while Brunjak recorded four rebounds and three steals. Freshman Kelli Darden (Chesapeake, Va.) added a career high14 points with senior Alisha Jones (Mesa, Az.) and freshman Corrie Fertitta (Roanoke, Va.) chipping in with 12 and 10 points respectively. Fertitta also pulled down a team best nine boards.

Jolandra Crump led the Eagles with nine points and a game high 10 rebounds. Jessica Dukes, Iva Milevoj and Gene’t Moore added eight points.

Radford, after a slow start in the first half, used a 14-3 run to break open a 14-8 game and take a 28-11 lead with 4:31 to go in the half. After Winthrop cut the lead to 28-17, the Highlanders closed out the final 3:18 on a 10-3 run, sparked by a pair of freshman Fertitta three’s, to take a 38-20 lead at the half. RU shot 48 percent from the field, while holding the Eagles to just 29 percent.

Brunjak got Radford started hitting 3-of-4 three’s to help the Highs take an 11-6 lead 5:24 into the game. She would finish the half with 12 points. Both team would struggle for the next three minutes, before RU ended a three minute scoring drought on a free throw by Fertitta, followed by a sophomore Earp layup to go up 14-6. After Jessica Dukes hit a layup on the next possession, the Highlanders would go on their run in which they held the Eagles without a field goal for 7:13.

In the second half, Radford continued its dominance, shooting 57 percent and pushing the lead to as much as 43 with 1:04 left in the game. The Highlanders outrebounded the Eagles, 42-31, recorded 17 assists, 13 steals and turned the ball over only 11 times. Senior Taryn Causey (Collierville, Tenn.) dished out a nine assists, tying a career high to go along with eight points.

Radford returns home on Wednesday, March 2 to host High Point and 7 pm.