ROCK HILL SC—Poor shooting by Winthrop and a dominating performance on the boards by Radford (15-12, 11-7 BSC) led to a 67-38 Big South Conference loss for the Eagle women on Tuesday night at the Winthrop Coliseum.
Winthrop (4-21, 3-14 BSC) did have a bright spot in the game as junior guard
Aliyah Kilpatrick surpassed 1,000 points in her career late in the fourth quarter when she converted two free throws to finish the night with a team-high 11 points. She now has 1,001 points to become the 19
th player in the program's history to reach the milestone.
Winthrop led 10-7 at the end of the first quarter, but couldn't take advantage of Radford's 11 first quarter turnovers to expand the lead. The Eagles suffered through a tough shooting night as they connected on 25.5 percent (14-55) overall and failed to make a three-pointer in eight attempts.
Radford finally took the lead at 15-13 with 6:02 left in the second quarter after Janayla White made two free throws and never trailed again the Highlanders outscored Winthrop 22-9 in the second period to lead 29-19 at intermission. Kilpatrick had nine of Winthrop's first half points, but was held scoreless in the third quarter and for most of the fourth period.
Radford connected on 39 percent (22-56) overall from the floor, but it was from behind the arc where the Highlanders did a lot of their damage as they knocked down 8 of 16 from long distance, which gave them a 24-0 advantage on three pointers. Radford's 51-29 advantage on the boards was also decisive as it outscored Winthrop 21-7 on second chance points.
White was the game's leading scorer and rebounder as she finished with 19 points and 16 rebounds. It was her second double-double performance against Winthrop this season after she had an 18-point, 15-rebound effort back on Jan. 9 in Radford.
In addition to Kilpatrick, sophomore guard
Naima Jackson reached double figures with 10 points while freshman walk-on
Kayla Atkins led the Eagles with nine rebounds.
Winthrop will hit the road Saturday when the Eagles travel to Clinton, SC, to face Presbyterian College at 2:00 p.m.
