Second Half Comeback Falls Short, Highlanders Drop Fifth Straight, 61-59 to Charleston Southern

Radford, Va. - Radford University's second half comeback against Charleston Southern fell short as the Highlanders dropped their fifth straight game, 61-59, in Big South Women's Basketball action from the Dedmon Center. With the loss, the Highlanders fall to 4-8 overall and 0-2 in the Big South, for only the second time in school history, while the Lady Buccaneers improved to 6-5 overall and 1-1 in the Conference.

Down 45-28 with 14:08 left in the game, Radford would slowly chip away at the Lady Bucs' lead, outscoring them 27-8 over the next 9:17 to get within two at 55-53. That would be the closest RU would get until the final buzzer.

Amanda Neby (Plymouth, Minn.) paced the Highlanders with 12 points and seven rebounds. Jesse Brunjak (Ooltewah, Tenn.) and Hanna Statsenka (Minsk, Belarus) each scored 10. Brunjak also dished out a career and game high six assists. CSU's Erin Jedlikowski and Katie LaRue dropped in 20 and 19 points respectively. Jedlikowski also tied teammate Keena Wicker for a game best nine rebounds.

In the first half, CSU made their first three shots to jump out to a 6-0 lead. After missing their first six shots, RU would respond with seven straight points to grab a 7-6 lead. After a the teams traded buckets, the Lady Bucs went on a 20-5 run, sparked by eight of Jedlikowski's 14 first half points, to take a 28-14 lead with 6:29 to go. A lead they would not relinquish. The Highlanders would claw their way back into the game, outscoring CSU 11-4 over the final six minutes, to get within seven, 32-25, at the break.

The Highlanders shot 31.3 percent in the first half, and 31.7% for the game, while the Lady Bucs, who opened the game shooting 60%, finished the first half shooting 46.9% and 43.9% for the game. Radford forced 22 turnovers, but turned the ball over 19 times, 11 in the first half.

Charleston Southern used a 13-3 run in the opening six minutes to take a seemingly commanding 17-point lead at 45-28. The Highlanders would start to chip away, getting it into single digits at 50-42, behind eight points from Statsenka, with 9:36 to go. After a LaRue three put CSU back up by 11, Radford went on an 11-3 run, including four consecutive free throws by Neby, to get it to 55-53.

The Highlanders had three chances to tie or take the lead, but were unable to find the bottom of the basket. LaRue's second three of the game gave CSU a five-point lead and a two-possession cushion that they would hold onto until a pair of free throws by Heather Perez (Louisville, Tenn.) with two-tenths of a second left made the final deficit two.

Radford will take to the road for three games. They begin the stretch when they travel to High Point on Jan. 8 and tip off with the Panthers at 7 p.m.

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