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NORFOLK, Va. – Radford dominated on the boards and overcame 24 turnovers to race past the Norfolk State women's basketball team, 80-68, Friday evening at Joseph Echols Hall.

The Highlanders held a 49-38 edge in rebounds – at one point the advantage was more than 20 – to improve to 6-3 on the season. The Spartans jumped out to an early eight-point lead to start the game and got as close as five in the last few minutes of play before falling to 5-4 overall.

NSU had to battle back from an 18-point hole partway through the second half despite committing just 17 turnovers to Radford's 24. The Highlanders hit 31-of-68 (45.6 percent) for the game. NSU was unable to capitalize on having twice as many free throws as Radford, with the Spartans converting just 19-of-34 from the charity stripe.

The Highlanders took the lead for good with a little under eight minutes left in the first half, thanks to 15 second-chance points courtesy of 14 offensive boards in that first stanza. Radford held a 22-13 edge in second-chance points for the game despite having just two more offensive rebounds than NSU at the end.

Sophomore Rae Corbo had a team-high 19 points with three steals, while senior Whitney Long and freshman Quineshia Leonard added 13 and 11, respectively. Leonard posted a career high for points in the process.

Sophomore Rachel Gordon had a game-high 13 rebounds, tying her career high, with 12 of those boards in the second half. After getting outrebounded by 16 in the first half, NSU had a plus-5 advantage in the second stanza.

Da'Naria Erwin-Spencer led all scorers with 20 points, with Victoria Hamilton and Ashley Buckhannon chipping in with 15 points each for Radford. Hamilton completed the double-double with 15 boards, and Erwin-Spencer led all players with five assists.

NSU avoided a slow start and jumped out to an early 10-2 lead to start the game, thanks to six turnovers by Radford in the first 4:15 of the game. After Leonard converted a traditional 3-point play and sank a jumper at 13:58 for a 15-8 Spartan lead, the Highlanders used a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to take a two-point lead, 17-15.

Corbo drained a trey to keep NSU to within one, 25-24, at the 6:53 mark, but this time an 8-0 run by the Highlanders stretched their lead to the biggest of the half, 33-24. Erwin-Spencer drained a jumper with just three seconds to go for a seven-point lead at the break, 40-33.

Radford had 29 rebounds at the break, including 14 offensive boards, compared to 13 total rebounds for NSU. The Spartans forced 14 Highlander turnovers in the first half.

NSU attempted just four shots in the first five minutes of the second half, allowing Radford to push the lead up to 16, 56-40, at the 14:47 mark. After the Highlanders took their biggest lead of the game at 60-42, NSU used a 9-2 run to cut into the Radford lead, 64-53, as the Spartans began to re-assert themselves on the glass.

Corbo's jumper with 6:47 to go finally got NSU to within a single-digit deficit, 68-59, and started a 9-3 run for the Spartans that lasted three and a half minutes. That run ended with NSU down by just five, 71-66, with less than four minutes to go in the game.

Down 73-68, though, just a short time later, NSU failed to score for the rest of the game, committing four turnovers and attempting just one shot the rest of the way.

Junior Recca Trice added eight points, five rebounds and three assists for the Spartans, while freshman Ebony Brown and junior Marian Brooks tallied seven and six points, respectively.

Radford hit 13-of-17 foul shots and had seven blocks on the night. NSU hit 24-of-64 (37.5 percent) from the floor for the game.

NSU will head to VCU next Wednesday for a noon tip-off in the Spartans' last game before the Christmas holiday.