The Radford University women’s basketball team came up a bit short in their bid for an upset against undefeated Virginia Tech as they fell to the Hokies, 55-44, on Tuesday evening at Cassell Coliseum. The Highlanders slid to 3-3 on the season as all three losses have come against Power 5 opponents.
The Hokie bird gave fans a chance to snap a holiday photo during Tuesday’s women’s basketball game between Virginia Tech and Radford University. Pictured are: Randall Womack and his daughter Katie, along with son, Kam.
Redshirt junior center Savannah Felgemacher returned to the lineup and paced the Highlanders with 13 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes. Felgemacher knocked down 3-of-7 3-pointers and finished 5-of-11 overall from the floor. Senior forward Destinee Walker added 12 points and redshirt junior forward Lydia Rivers contributed 11 rebounds and three rejections.
The Highlanders surprised the 1,763 fans in attendance with their tough-minded defense as they took a 23-19 lead into the break. Radford held the high-scoring Hokies to just 25 percent shooting (8-of-32) in the opening 20 minutes.
Virginia Tech (9-0) took a 7-2 lead at the start of the contest but Felgemacher drained her first triple of the night and Walker converted a jumper in the lane to even the score with 5:09 left. Virginia Tech grabbed a 12-9 advantage after a jumper by Taylor Emory (21 points) but Rivers and freshman center Amele Ngwafang scored back-to-back buckets in the paint to give the visitors a 12-11 lead with eight ticks left in the stanza. Dara Mabrey would beat the buzzer with a layup to give the Hokies a 14-13 edge after the opening quarter.
The second stanza was deadlocked at 17-17 after Radford junior guard Khiana Johnson made a tough driving layup with 6:30 left. Walker then put the Highlanders back on top, 21-17, with consecutive buckets. Virginia Tech closed to within 21-19 after a layup by Aisha Sheppard (13 points) but freshman guard Bryonna McClean came up with a steal and a fast break layup to put the visitors up by a 23-19 margin right before the half.
Redshirt junior guard Jen Falconer got a favorable roll on a jumper to start the third quarter, providing Radford with their largest lead of the night at 25-19.
The Hokies, however, rattled off 12 consecutive points to change the flow of the contest as they grabbed a 31-25 advantage with 5:35 left in the third stanza. Guard Rachel Camp scored seven points during the spurt and Sheppard capped it with a trifecta.
Virginia Tech extended their led to 38-28 at the end of the third quarter as they allowed Radford to score just five points in the stanza.
Radford did not go down without a fight as they managed to shave the deficit to 38-34 after scoring the first six points of the final quarter. Rivers, Walker and Johnson all produced buckets inside the paint.
The Highlanders were still down just 40-36 after a field goal by Felgemacher at the 6:09 mark but the hosts went on a decisive 11-3 run to extend their lead to 50-39 with just over a minute left.
Radford went 19-of-64 from the floor and finished shooting at a 29.7 clip, including a 3-of-16 mark (18.8 percent) from long distance.
The Highlanders held the Hokies to their lowest scoring output of the season as the hosts were 18-for-57 (31.6 percent) from the floor. Radford also out rebounded the taller Hokies by a 43-40 margin, including 10-6 on the offensive glass. Regan Magarity, the nation’s leading rebounder, was a force on the defensive end as she finished with 16 caroms and six blocks for Virginia Tech.
