CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern used a furious fourth quarter rally to force overtime, but was unable to carry the momentum into the extra period as the Buccaneer fell to Radford, 61-56, on Saturday at the Buc Dome.

CSU falls to 6-9, 1-3 following the defeat, while Radford improves to 9-6, 2-2 with the win. Shauntavia Dobson led the Bucs in scoring with a season-high 20 points, while Ke'Asia Jackson tied her season-high with 17 points.

Radford had 16 second chance points and took advantage of a 36-12 margin in points in the paint as the Highlanders powered their way to the win.

The Bucs struggled early with shooting as CSU went scoreless in the first frame as Radford took the 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. CSU shot only 17.2% from the field in the first half.

Jayda Worthy's layup put the Highlanders ahead 14-5 with 6:10 to go in the second period. The Bucs found a rhythm on back-to-back possessions as CSU scored five straight off a Burns three-pointer and Jackson converted a jumper off of a turnover to cut the lead to 14-10. Dobson's trifecta at the buzzer kept the Bucs within firing distance as Radford held a 22-14 halftime lead.

A back-and-forth third quarter saw CSU trim the lead to 26-21 on a Weknyne Dumorne three-pointer. Dumorne's layup at the 3:01 mark ended a three minute scoreless stretch to keep the Bucs within striking distance at 30-23. A deep Dobson jumper with eight seconds remaining made the Bucs' deficit 33-25 at the end of the third frame.

Radford led 38-31 in the fourth quarter when Dobson's third trey of the game sparked a 12-1 CSU run with 6:30 to go in the game. Jackson converted on a traditional three-point play less than two minutes later to tie the game 39-39. Dumorne connected on one of two free throw attempts to cap the Bucs' run and put CSU ahead 43-39 with 1:33 remaining. Four straight points from the Highlanders knotted the score until Jackson's jumper gave CSU a 45-43 with 18 seconds left in regulation. Worthy's layup with four seconds to go forced the extra session.

Back-to-back buckets for Radford to open overtime set the tone for the Highlanders. Destinee Walker's jumper extended RU's lead to 55-48 with 1:59 to go in the extra period. The Bucs got as close four when Jackson made a layup while being fouled and knocked down the free throw to cut the lead to 57-53 with 57 seconds remaining. Radford was able to hold on in the final minute as the Highlanders converted four from the free throw line to close out the win.

Inside the Numbers

• Shauntavia Dobson shot 6-of-14 from the field and 5-of-11 from the three-point line as she tallied a season-high 20 points.
• Radford used its height to its advantage as the Highlanders out-rebounded the Bucs 61-29.
• Six Buccaneers recorded steals as CSU had a 9-5 edge in takeaways.
• Charleston Southern got 24 points off the bench as the Bucs were forced to go deep with three players fouling out in the extra session.
• A battle between two of the top defenses in the conference lived up to its billing on Saturday afternoon. Radford held the Bucs to 32.8% shooting from the floor, while CSU held the Highlanders to 35.3% from the field and 13.3% from the three-point line.
• Potentially billed as a block party heading into the game with both teams atop the Big South lead in the category, Radford (6) and CSU (5) combined for 11 blocked shots in the game.

News and Notes

• CSU falls at home for the first time since December 11 against South Carolina State.
• The Bucs are off to a 1-3 start in Big South play. It's the slowest start for CSU since it went 0-4 to open conference play in 2014-15.
• Radford improves to 51-18 all-time and 7-13 against CSU in the Buc Dome.
• It's the second straight time in the regular season that the two teams have needed overtime to settle the score. Radford defeated CSU, 67-59 OT, at the Dedmon Center on February 11, 2017.

Up Next
CSU returns to action when the Bucs host Winthrop on Tuesday at 7 p.m.