Highlanders Fall to #16 Minnesota, 93-53 in Subway Classic Championship Game

Minneapolis, Minn. - Radford's women's hoop team ran into a buzzsaw on Sunday as they fell to No. 16 Minnesota 93-53 in the title game of the Subway Basketball Classic. Tournament MVP Corrin Von Wald scored 23 points on a school record 10-of-10 shooting from the field, while Lindsay Whalen led all scorers with 26 points for the Golden Gophers. Amanda Neby (Plymouth, Minn.), Sherri Rickman (Roanoke, Va.) and Brandy Allen (Roanoke, Va.) paced the Highlanders with 10 points apiece. Neby and Rickman, who were named to the all-tournament team led RU with eight rebounds apiece.

The Golden Gophers darted to an 8-0 lead, the first three buckets by Von Wald, to start the game. The Highlanders would go on an 11-4 run, capped off by a Kylie Williamson (Ankeny, Iowa) three-pointer to cut the lead to 13-11 with 14:00 left. Minnesota responded with a 16-4 spurt over the next 7:16 to push the lead to 29-15 and they would never looked back. By halftime, Von Wald had 18 points and the Gophers led by a 45-23 cushion. Minnesota shot 56 percent in the half, while Radford committed 16 first-half turnovers.

The second half was a carbon copy of the first, as the Gopher lead ballooned to as large as 43 points at 84-41 with 7:45 remaining. The Highlander's offense struggled, finishing the game shooting 37 percent from the field, while the Gophers finished the game at a 53.7 percent clip.

Ludmila Nicheporchuk (Minsk, Belarus) and Jesse Brunjak (Ooltewah, Tenn.) chipped in with eight and six points respectively. For the Gophers, Kim Prince added 10 points, while Janel McCarville posted six points, seven boards and four assists.

The Highlanders will return to Radford on Wednesday, Nov. 26 when they host East Tennessee in their home opener at 7 p.m.

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