CHARLESTON, S.C. - Lakeitha Alston tallied a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Charleston Southern women's basketball team over Radford, 79-69, on Saturday afternoon at Buccaneer Fieldhouse.

Alston's latest banner performance spearheaded a tenacious effort on the glass, as CSU (11-5, 4-1) out-rebounded Radford (7-8, 1-3), 41-27. The Bucs were particularly active on the offensive boards, collecting 21 caroms to produce 16 second-chance points.

Rachelle Coward added 16 points for the Bucs while Anicia Dotson racked up 13. With Helen Terry and Kiki Rutledge sidelined, junior guard Shay Jones picked up the slack with 14 points, highlighted by an 8-of-11 showing from the free-throw line.

CSU shot only 41 percent for the game, but excelled at getting to the charity stripe where they knocked down 24-of-33 attempts.

Radford was paced by 17 markers from Da'Naria Erwin Spencer, while Ayana Avery contributed 15.

The Highlanders assumed control of the contest early as an Ashley Buckhannon layup staked them to a 13-6 lead at the 14:43 mark. CSU ripped off eight straight points to take a one-point lead and dictated the pace for the remainder of the opening stanza.

CSU entered the game ranked third in the country in three-pointers made per game with 9.4, and used the trey to build a 38-30 halftime lead. CSU sunk four consecutive triples to push the cushion from one to eight with 6:48 left with Kirklin Kirkpatrick and Alston book-ending the barrage and Erin Bratcher sailing home two in between.

Alston displayed her versatility to record the final basket of the first half, backing down a Radford defender in the post before going glass for a deuce.

CSU stretched the advantage to 46-34 early in the second stanza on a Coward jumper, but Radford kept coming, twice pulling within five. That was as close as the Highlanders would get, however, as the Bucs answered every spurt.

With the lead at 52-47, CSU netted six straight to go up eleven with 6:48 left on a Bratcher drive to the bucket. Two Erwin Spencer three-balls sliced the Highlanders deficit to 75-69 with 1:11 remaining, but the Bucs swished four free-throws and held Radford scoreless the rest of the way to improve to 7-1 at home on the campaign.

CSU hits the Buc Dome hardwood again on Monday at 7 p.m. for a showdown with defending Big South regular season champion Liberty.