Box Score

ROCK HILL, SC—Aliyah Kilpatrick scored a career-high 24 points to lead four players in double figures as Winthrop used a stifling defense to defeat Radford 66-45 in a Big South Conference battle Tuesday on Play4Kay Night at the Winthrop Coliseum.
 
The victory gave Winthrop a split of its regular season series against Radford and improves the Eagles to 11-6 in league play and 15-11 overall.  Radford, which entered the game on a four-game winning streak and second in the league standings, falls to 12-5 in the conference and 15-11 overall.
 
With the 11 conference wins, the Eagles are assured of a third straight Big South winning record with three regular season games left to play.  The win also improved Winthrop to 11-2 at home this year. 
 
Joining Kilpatrick in double figures was Schaquilla Nunn with 17 while Erica Williams and Samiya Wright finished with 10 each.  Nunn also recorded her 12^th double-double of the season and 39^th of her career with a game-high 12 rebounds. She also blocked five Highlander shots.  Aisha Foy led RU in scoring with 10 points while Jordynn Gaymon was the team's top rebounder with nine.
 
Winthrop's defense held Radford to 32 percent shooting for the game as the Highlanders connected on 19 of 60 field goals and were just 2 of 14 from behind the 3-point line. After one of its poorest shooting performances of the season at Radford back on Jan. 13 when it shot 28 percent, Winthrop finished the game shooting 41 percent as it made 26 of 64 attempts.  The Eagles also won the rebounding battle 46-36
 
Winthrop enjoyed an 11 point halftime lead, but Radford opened the second half with five quick points on a 3-pointer by Ayanna Avery and a jumper from Kiera McIvor to make it a 35-29 lead just 56 seconds into the final period.  But following a quick time out by Winthrop, the Eagles went on an 18-2 run to take control of the game with a 20-point lead at 53-33 with just over nine minutes left in the game. Kilpatrick scored 10 of her game-high 24 points during that stretch. 
 
"Aliyah was really good tonight, not just with the defense, but leading the team and handling the offense.  We asked her to do a lot of things and she came through," said Winthrop head coach Kevin Cook, who was decked out for the game in his special pink suit in recognition of breast cancer awareness. "It was just a total team effort.  When we share the ball like that and we work as a team and have that spirited kind of effort, we are tough team to deal with," he said.
 
Kilpatrick scored 14 of her points in the first half to lead the Eagles to a 35-24 advantage at intermission.  After Radford's McIvor tied the game at 7-7 with a 16 foot jumper after the opening 3 minutes, 26 seconds, Kilpatrick connected on a 3-pointer to put Winthrop up 10-7 with just under 15 minutes left in the period.
 
The Eagles never relinquished the lead again as Kilpatrick scored seven of Winthrop's next 11 points to give her team a 21-12 lead at the 9:07 mark.  The lead grew to 11 at 25-14 when Wright connected on a 17-footer with 6:09 remaining.  A baseline jumper by Wright kept the Eagles ahead by 11 at 29-18 with three minutes on the clock.
 
After a jumper from the foul line by Gaby Gilmore and a follow shot by Janayla White cut Winthrop's lead to seven points, Williams and Kilpatrick answered the bell.  Williams connected on a 15 foot elbow jumper and Kilpatrick took the ball to the rim on a layup to put the lead back at 11 at 33-22.  RU's Gilmore made another 15 foot jumper with 26 seconds left, but the Eagles worked the ball to Williams for a 10 foot baseline jumper with four seconds left in the half.
 
Winthrop will play its final home game of the season on Saturday when the Eagles host Coastal Carolina at 1 p.m. on Senior Day and Heart2Heart Day.  Taylor Calvert and Samiya Wright will be playing for the last time in the Winthrop Coliseum. The game also will commemorate National Heart Month.  Fans will be admitted to the game for a $2 donation to the Heart2Heart Foundation.