Box Score Box Score

HIGH POINT, NC— Winthrop rallied from a 16-point second half deficit to take a 54-52 lead with four and a half minutes to play, but came up short as it fell to sixth-seeded Radford, 62-56, in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Advanced Auto Parts Big South Conference Women's Basketball Championship.

Winthrop finishes its season 18-13 overall while Radford improves to 16-14 and moves on to the semifinals on Saturday to face second-seeded High Point.

Dequesha McClanahan, the 2012 Big South Conference Player of the Year, led all scorers with 28 points as she also finished with four assists and seven rebounds.

Radford used an 11-4 run to build a 46-30 lead with 13:52 remaining in the game, forcing Winthrop to call a timeout. The Eagles came out of the timeout showing they weren't ready to go down without a fight as they scored eight straight to cut the deficit in half. The run was sparked by threes from Diana Choibekova and McClanahan.

Da'Naria Erwin Spencer ended the run with a jumper at the foul line, but then Winthrop reeled off eight straight points again to pull within 48-46 with just under nine minutes remaining.

After another Erwin Spencer basket, McClanahan drilled another three and TaQouia Hammick hit one-of-two free throws to tie the game at 50-50 with 7:43 left. After a couple of misses by both teams, McClanahan boarded her own miss and knocked down a jumper for the Eagles first lead since the 18:29 mark of the first half (3-2).

Winthrop led by three points after Taylor Calvert converted one-of-two free throws and once against Erwin Spencer had an answer for Radford. Winthrop went 1-for-2 at the foul line and with 2:58 left in the game, Erwin Spencer tied the game at 54-54 after a runner in the lane.

McClanahan couldn't get a shot to fall on the ensuing possession and Ayana Avery took the biggest shot of the game as she launched a deep three from just off center of the basked and dropped in her third triple of the game. That gave Radford a 57-54 advantage and Winthrop just couldn't get shots to fall on the other end.

Winthrop came out flat from the get go and Radford took advantage for an early 8-3 lead. Winthrop managed just three points in the first four minutes and 15 seconds.

Winthrop shot just 28 percent from the field in the first half and committed 12 turnovers (only averaging 15.3 per game). Radford turned the Eagles miscues into nine points and shot 43 percent to lead 35-26 at the break.

Over the final 10 minutes of the first half, Winthrop used an 11-2 run to pull within one point after Radford had extended its lead to double-figures. Winthrop cut the lead down to three points with just under four minutes remaining after a TaQuoia Hammick finish off a nice dish from McClanahan. However, Radford ended the half on a 8-2 run.

Erwin Spencer led Radford with 19 points on 9-for-13 shooting and also had five assists and three steals. Avery finished with 13 points off the bench while Ashley Buckhannon had 11 points.

Hammick was big on the boards for Winthrop as she finished with a career-high 19 rebounds. In her seven career games at the Millis Center, Hammick has pulled down double-figure rebounds in six of them. She also added seven points and two blocks.

McClanahan was the only Eagle player in double-figures as the team finished the game shooting 29 percent and 18 turnovers. In her final game at Winthrop, Kaitlyn Rubino came off the bench to grab four rebounds in 11 minutes.