
Radford Pulls Away From Liberty in 4th Quarter for 57-45 Win
12/13/2023 9:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. - After Liberty took a three-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the visiting Radford Highlanders shut down the Lady Flames' offense to pull away for a 57-45 victory, Wednesday evening at Liberty Arena.
The Highlanders held the Lady Flames without a field goal over the final 8:12, outscoring the host team, 18-3, to close out the victory.
Liberty drops to 3-8 on the season with its third consecutive setback. The Lady Flames were held to 27 percent (17-of-63) shooting from the field in the contest. Liberty was led by Asia Boone (6 rebounds, 2 steals) and Bella Smuda (10 rebounds, four blocks) with nine points each in the game.
Radford snaps an eight-game losing skid and improves to 3-8 on the season. The Highlanders were led by Ashlyn Taylor-Walker with 22 points, five assists, eight rebounds and three steals. Teammate Olivia Wagner also cracked double digits in points with 13.         Â
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Emily Howard – 7 points, 7 rebounds; Brooke Moore – 4 points, 6 rebounds, two steals
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Radford Individuals: Terrissa Lavoile-Brice – 8 points; Taniya Hanner – 8 points, 6 rebounds
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Key Team Stats: Both teams shot under 40 percent from the field (39.6 percent for Radford and 27 percent for Liberty). Meanwhile, Radford made 12-of-15 at the free throw line for 80 percent and outscored Liberty in the paint, 28-26. Liberty was 9-of-13 from the charity stripe for 69.2 percent and outrebounded the visiting Highlanders, 45-35, including 21-8 on the offensive boards. The Lady Flames bench outscored the Highlanders' reserves, 18-6.
Turning Point
At 8:12 of the fourth quarter, Liberty's Moore scored a second-chance layup to give the home team a 42-39 advantage. However, it would be the last field goal of the game for the Lady Flames. Led by Traylor-Walker's 11 points down the stretch, Radford took the lead and went on to the victory.
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Game Summary
First Quarter
Liberty will face its second consecutive in-state opponent on Saturday when the Lady Flames travel to Richmond (8-2). Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside the Robins Center.
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The Highlanders held the Lady Flames without a field goal over the final 8:12, outscoring the host team, 18-3, to close out the victory.
Liberty drops to 3-8 on the season with its third consecutive setback. The Lady Flames were held to 27 percent (17-of-63) shooting from the field in the contest. Liberty was led by Asia Boone (6 rebounds, 2 steals) and Bella Smuda (10 rebounds, four blocks) with nine points each in the game.
Radford snaps an eight-game losing skid and improves to 3-8 on the season. The Highlanders were led by Ashlyn Taylor-Walker with 22 points, five assists, eight rebounds and three steals. Teammate Olivia Wagner also cracked double digits in points with 13.         Â
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Emily Howard – 7 points, 7 rebounds; Brooke Moore – 4 points, 6 rebounds, two steals
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Radford Individuals: Terrissa Lavoile-Brice – 8 points; Taniya Hanner – 8 points, 6 rebounds
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Key Team Stats: Both teams shot under 40 percent from the field (39.6 percent for Radford and 27 percent for Liberty). Meanwhile, Radford made 12-of-15 at the free throw line for 80 percent and outscored Liberty in the paint, 28-26. Liberty was 9-of-13 from the charity stripe for 69.2 percent and outrebounded the visiting Highlanders, 45-35, including 21-8 on the offensive boards. The Lady Flames bench outscored the Highlanders' reserves, 18-6.
Turning Point
At 8:12 of the fourth quarter, Liberty's Moore scored a second-chance layup to give the home team a 42-39 advantage. However, it would be the last field goal of the game for the Lady Flames. Led by Traylor-Walker's 11 points down the stretch, Radford took the lead and went on to the victory.
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Game Summary
First Quarter
- Radford shot 50 percent (6-of-12) from the field during the opening period and went on a 6-0 run over a span of 3:06 to take a 12-7 advantage with 1:14 left. Taylor-Walker and Hanner led the Highlanders with four points apiece.
- After trailing for most of the first quarter, Liberty scored five points over the final 1:14 of the opening period to erase the visitors' advantage. A jumper from the left wing by Aegisdottir right before the buzzer tied the contest at 12-12.
- Radford outscored Liberty 13-4 over the first six minutes of the period to open a nine-point advantage at 25-16. Hanner and Lavoile-Brice finished the half with a team-high six points each.
- After shooting 1-for-9 from the floor to open the quarter, Liberty held Radford scoreless over the final four minutes to close to within 25-20 at halftime. Smuda led the Lady Flames with five points and a team-high six rebounds during the first half of play.
- Visiting Radford opened its first double-digit lead of the game, 34-24, at 6:53 of the quarter after Taylor-Walker made each of her free throw attempts. Taylor-Walker had six points in the period to lead the Highlanders.
- Behind Boone's seven points in the quarter and amassing an 11-4 rebound advantage, the Lady Flames outscored the Highlanders, 20-14, in the period to take the lead. A layup by Howard off of a missed shot with 20 seconds remaining gave Liberty its first lead of the contest (40-39) since opening the game with a 2-0 advantage.
- The Highlanders held the Lady Flames without a field goal over the final 8:12 to erase a three-point deficit and finish the contest by outscoring Liberty, 18-3. Once again, Taylor-Walker paced Radford with 11 points in the quarter.
- Liberty was held to 1-of-17 (5.9 percent) from the field in the final period. The Lady Flames had eight offensive rebounds and 12 total boards in the quarter.
- The contest was the first time this season that no Lady Flame scored 10 or more points.
- Howard had a career-high seven rebounds for Liberty and finished one point shy of tying her career-high for points in a game.
- Moore also tied her career-high for rebounds with six in the contest.
- Smuda entered the game No. 8 nationally in blocked shots and added to that total this evening with four. The center now has recorded 20 blocked shots in her last four games.
- Liberty and Radford met for the 72nd time in their program's histories. It is the most against any opponent in each team's history.
- The Lady Flames hold a 45-27 all-time record against the Highlanders. The two teams were members of the Big South Conference for many years (1991-2017). Liberty had won 15 consecutive games against Big South opponents since losing at Radford on Feb. 13, 2018, 52-45.
Liberty will face its second consecutive in-state opponent on Saturday when the Lady Flames travel to Richmond (8-2). Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside the Robins Center.
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Team Stats
Rad
Lib
FG%
.396
.270
3FG%
.214
.100
FT%
.800
.692
RB
35
45
TO
13
18
STL
10
7
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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