Late Spurt Pushes Western Carolina Past Radford, 78-68

Radford, Va. - A late run in the second half helped Western Carolina (5-1) defeat Radford University (2-3), 78-68, in women's basketball action from the Ramsey Center. With the Highlanders holding a 63-61 lead at 5:52, the Lady Catamounts went on a 10-0 spurt to take control of the game and go on to the victory.

The Lady Catamounts had five players in double figures, led by a game-high 17 points from Yoneko Allen and 16 points and nine rebounds from Jennifer Gardner. Jesse Brunjak (Ooltewah, Tenn.) and Amanda Neby (Plymouth, Minn.) led the Highlanders with 15 and 14 points respectively.

Radford used a 9-0 run, sparked by five points from Heather Perez (Louisville, Tenn.), to jump out to a 13-5 lead five minutes into the first half. Western Carolina would go on a 21-4 run to go ahead 32-22 at 8:02. The Highlanders committed eight of their 15 first half turnovers, leading to 13 of WCU's points during the run. Radford cut it back to three points, but the Lady Catamounts would push the lead back to seven at the break.

After a three-point play by Gardner put WCU up by 10 on their first second half possession, Brunjak scored the first eight points of a 14-2 run by RU, giving them the lead, 48-46, at 13:13. Prior to Western Carolina's game-winning spurt, there was a lot of back-and-forth play, with neither team grabbing more that a three-point lead before the decisive run.

Sherri Rickman (Roanoke, Va.) also posted double figures for RU with 12 points, while Ludmila Nicheporchuk (Minsk, Belarus) and Perez chipped in with nine and eight points respectively. Brandy Allen (Roanoke, Va.) and Holly Sharkey (Westminster, Colo.) led RU with four rebounds apiece.

For Western Carolina, Janetta Heggins, Kala Greene and Melissa Ervin added 12, 11 and 10 points respectively. Erivin also tied her teammate Gardner with a game-high nine boards.

Radford will be off until next Saturday, Dec. 14, when they host Marshall University at 7 p.m.

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