Highlanders Downed at Birmingham Southern, 57-49

Radford, Va. - Despite Amanda Neby’s (Plymouth, Minn.) game high 21 points, 17 in the second half, Radford University (7-15) fell to Birmingham Southern (13-10), 57-49, from Bill Battle Coliseum. Lindsay Boyett and Candace Byrd helped lead the Panthers to their fifth straight win with 15 and 14 points respectively. Jesse Brunjak (Ooltewah, Tenn.) added 13 points, on 4-of-7 shooting from three-point land, for the Highlanders.

Birmingham Southern jumped out to a 13-8 lead, behind six of Byrd’s eight first half points, in the first 5:29 of the game. After Radford cut the gap to 18-17 with a 10-4 run at 8:28, the Panthers closed out the half on a 13-4 run to take a 30-22 lead into halftime. Brunjak led RU in the first half with 10 points on three-of-five shooting from behind the arc.

The Panthers extended their lead to 47-32 midway through the second half. The Highlanders would use 9-0 run, capped off by a Heather Perez (Louisville, Tenn.) three to cut the lead to 47-41 at 7:05. BSC, after a timeout, scored five straight to push the lead to 11 with 5:48 to go.

With the Panthers up 54-43, Neby converted a three-point play and Brunjak hit a three to get the Highlanders within five with 2:20 to go. After RU forced a miss on BSC’s next posession, the Highs had a chance to get it within three, but Hanna Statsenka (Minsk, Belarus) missed a pair of free throws. The Panthers would make free throws down the stretch for the final margin. Radford was 4-10 from the line in the second half and 5-for-12 for the game.

The Highlanders outrebounded the Panthers, 35-29. Sherri Rickman (Roanoke, Va.) and BSC’s Ricka Spears each grabbed a game high seven boards. Radford shot 38.8 percent, while the BSC shot 45.1 percent.

Radford returns home on Wednesday, Feb. 19 when they host Elon at 7 p.m.

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