Box Score RADFORD, Va. – Ayana Avery scored 22 points, 14 in overtime, to help host Radford pull away for a 74-65 win over Norfolk State on Thursday evening at the Dedmon Center.

The Spartans dropped to 0-3 with the loss, while the Highlanders improved to 1-1.

Freshman forward Kayla Roberts notched career highs with 20 points and eight rebounds for NSU, which led by as many as eight in the second half before having to rally to force the extra session.

Both teams had big runs in the first half. Trailing 11-10, Radford went on a 12-0 run, capped by a three-point play by Rachael Ross, that gave the Highlanders a 22-11 lead with 9:06 left before halftime. But NSU outscored Radford 19-9 over the final seven and a half minutes of the period, getting seven points from Roberts, to pull within one, 31-30, heading into the intermission.

Roberts scored four quick points out of the locker room and Aivah Parham converted a three-point play to give NSU its largest lead at 39-31 with 15:58 remaining in regulation. Radford didn't score its first points of the second half until a Gaby Gilmore jumper with 15:22 on the clock.

Radford continued to hang around. A 10-2 spurt, capped by a Claudia Quevedo 3-pointer, gave the Highlanders their first lead of the second half at 48-47 with 5:27 left in the half. 

Neither team led by three for the rest of regulation. Rae Corbo's layup and free throw put NSU ahead 55-52 with 2:52 left. Aisha Foy hit a 3-pointer one minute later to tie the game for Radford. 

Gilmore's layup put the Highlanders in front, 57-55, with 1:08 to play. But Parham had the answer for NSU. Her jumper with less than 20 seconds left was blocked by Kiera McIvor. Parham corralled the rebound, though, and scored on a layup with 16 seconds left to knot the score at 57-all.

Avery missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer with three seconds left in regulation, sending the game into overtime.

Unfortunately for NSU, Avery didn't misfire in the extra stanza. Avery, who was 3-of-3 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the line in OT, scored Radford's first eight points in overtime, including a pair of 3-pointers. She drained one just 16 seconds into the extra session to give Radford the lead for good. Roberts brought NSU within 60-59 with a layup 56 seconds later. But Avery countered with another triple at the 3:06 mark, and after five straight scoreless possessions between the teams, she scored on a fast-break layup after a Spartan turnover to push the RU lead to six with a minute and a half to play.

The Spartans could get no closer.

NSU shot just 31 percent (21-of-67) from the floor on the night, including just 18 percent (2-of-11) in overtime. The Spartans went 0-of-14 from 3-point range. 

Radford didn't fare much better, hitting on just 38 percent of its field goal attempts (23-of-60). The Highlanders did make 35 percent of their 3-pointers, shooting 7-of-20. Avery was 4-of-10 from long range.

The Spartans did force 20 Radford turnovers and had their best rebounding effort of the year, edging the Highlanders 49-45 on the glass. Sophomore forward Amber Brown had a career-high 11 rebounds while Roberts had a career-best eight for NSU. 

Roberts was 6-of-16 from the floor and 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Corbo scored 18 points on 5-of-18 shooting from the floor, but an 8-of-9 effort from the charity stripe. Parham chipped in with 12 points and five rebounds off the bench. Brown handed out a career-high five assists.

For Radford, Gilmore added 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench, while Foy scored 12 points.

The Spartans return home for a 4 p.m. game Sunday against Hofstra.