Winthrop women fall to Radford, 64-51, in first round of Big South tournament
Winthrop lost to Radford 64-51 in the first round of the Big South Women’s Basketball Championship Thursday night in High Point.
It was a tough night for the Eagles, who finish the season 14-16.
The biggest difference in the game can be seen by looking at the box score: Winthrop shot just 30% from the field and 18% from 3-point range, while Radford shot 45% and 38%.
“The unfortunate thing that happened to us today was something that’s happened to us over the course of the season where we go on those scoring lags where we can’t buy a bucket, and we have to play defense almost perfect to be able to stay within the game, and it just caught up to us,” Winthrop head coach Semeka Randall Lay said. “It’s not anything that we were surprised by, but it happened to us.”
Despite the off shooting night, the Eagles still had their chances.
A 7-0 run in the second half gave Winthrop a 38-34 lead, forcing Radford to take a timeout.
But after that run, the Eagles shot just 4-for-18 from the field the rest of the way, though they managed to cut Radford’s margin to 49-46 with just under 4 minutes left on the clock.
That’s when Winthrop senior guard Nyah Stallings rose up for a 3-pointer and nailed it — but stepped out of bounds as she set for the shot.
Radford hit a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, and Stallings responded with a 3 of her own with 3 minutes remaining.
But that would be Winthrop’s last field goal of the night as Radford ended the game on a 12-2 run.
“We got in that scoring lag where we were trying to find baskets, and (Radford) did a great job of trying to pack it in,” Randall Lay said. “They took those opportunities away from us penetrating, and we didn’t make the play. I don’t know why, we just didn’t finish the play. We in the past have finished plays, but this time we didn’t.”
Stallings led the team with 14 points, while junior forward Marissa Gasaway finished with her fourth-consecutive double-double performance with 11 points and 18 rebounds.
“I feel like I was very fatigued in the first half,” Gasaway said. “Then coach had a talk with us telling us we’re not tired, it’s all mental, and that stuck with me. The second half and I just had to want it, and I wanted it.”
Randall Lay still views this season as a step in the right direction for Winthrop, which reached its highest win total since the 2014-15 season.
To achieve that with 11 newcomers gives the program a lot to build on, especially with most players expected to return.
“Coming into the season, a lot of eyes were on us and all of our new players and there were very few returners,” said junior guard Jada Ryce, who finished the game with 12 points and three steals. She is one of four returners to this year’s roster. “I just have to say that I’m really proud of this group, and it was tough for us in the summer. We went through a lot of ups and downs. We had some injuries too, but we still fought together and stuck together, and we fought for one another to the end.”
Radford advances to the tournament semifinals to face USC Upstate.