Radford, Va. – Five Eagles scored in double figures as Winthrop led from wire-to-wire in a dominant victory at conference-leading Radford Wednesday night.
Winthrop (13-12, 7-5 Big South) | Radford (11-14, 8-4 Big South)
Feb. 12, 2025 | Dedmon Center
Winthrop 78, Radford 68
How it Happened
First Quarter | Winthrop trailed 15-5 at the under-five media timeout, as the Eagles went scoreless for a three-minute stretch during the opening half of the quarter. But Winthrop finished the back end of the frame on a big 15-4 run. During the run,
Blessing Okoh hit two three-pointers,
Olivia Wagner drained one from deep and scored down low, and
Marissa Gasaway scored on a jumper.
Konnor Gambrell then capped off the run by hitting a layup at the buzzer to give the Eagles a 20-19 lead.
Second Quarter | Winthrop picked up right where they left off to start the second quarter, this time going on a 12-6 run to take a 32-25 lead at the 6:01 mark.
Ciara Harris hit two triples to account for half of the Eagle points during the run. Winthrop continued to maintain a lead ranging from 4-8 points for the next four minutes. Wagner's layup at the 1:55 mark then gave the Eagles their largest lead of the half at 40-31. Radford would hit one more free throw after Wagner's score as Winthrop went into the break leading 40-32.
Third Quarter | Wagner's shot from downtown kickstarted a 12-2 run to start the second half for the Eagles, putting Winthrop up 18 at 52-34 at the 5:13 mark.
Amourie Porter scored seven of Winthrop's early 12 points during the offensive outburst. Neither team then scored for nearly three minutes until Radford hit a pair of free throws with 2:31 remaining.
Mya Pierfax's jumper seconds later restored the Eagle lead back to 18 and after two more three-point baskets by Harris, Winthrop had a commanding 60-36 lead with nearly a minute left in the frame. The quarter concluded with each team getting three points and the Eagles would go on to lead 63-39 at the end of three.
Fourth Quarter | The Eagles led 68-41 at the 7:22 mark after Gasaway's jumper, seizing their largest lead of the game at 27 points. The Highlanders scored the next 12 points to cut it to 15 at 68-53 with 3:53 to go. But another Harris triple put Winthrop back up 18 with 3:33 left, ending a nearly four-minute scoring drought for the Eagles. Consecutive triples by the Highlanders made it a 12-point game at 71-59 with 2:13 left but a jumper immediately thereafter gave Winthrop a 14-point cushion. Radford once again fought back to cut it to eight at 76-68 with 24 seconds to go by going on a small 9-3 run. But that's as close as the Highlanders would get, as Porter hit two free throws to wrap up the scoring.
Statistical Standouts (Team)
- Winthrop moves to 625-919 all-time as a program
- Winthrop moves to 219-380 all-time in Big South games
- This is Winthrop's first sweep of the Highlanders since 2014
- This is Winthrop's first win at Radford since a 68-56 result on Jan. 9, 2014
- Winthrop outscored Radford 23-7 in the third quarter
- Winthrop shot 64% from deep to Radford's 33%
- Winthrop shot 57% from the field in the third quarter
- Winthrop shot 60% from the free throw line in the fourth quarter
- Winthrop held the Highlanders scoreless from deep and 18% from the field in the third quarter
- Three Eagles had nine rebounds
- Four Eagles had three or more assists
- Five Eagles scored in double figures
Statistical Standouts (Individual)
Amourie Porter (27 min., 6-10 FG, 9 rebounds, 18 points)
Olivia Wagner (36 min., 5-9 FG, 3-5 3FG, 5 assists, 16 points)
Konnor Gambrell (19 min., 5-12 FG, 9 rebounds, 11 points)
Ciara Harris (16 min., 4-8 FG, 4-6 3FG, 12 points)
Marissa Gasaway (18 min., 9 rebounds, 11 points)
Up Next
Winthrop stays on the road, traveling to High Point Saturday, Feb. 15 for a 7:00 p.m. start with the Panthers.
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