Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Radford's Denay Wood (right) looks to pass while being guarded by Virginia Tech's Lakeisha Logan during the Hokies' 78-54 victory.

Virginia Tech's Lindsay Biggs (left) drives past Radford's Vandy Pullen. Tech improved to 2-0, while the Highlanders fell to 0-2.

BLACKSBURG -- It must have been a quick talk.

Virginia Tech coach Beth Dunkenberger convinced turbo-charged guard Shani Grey to sit down, sort of, on Monday to talk about her role on the team.

Grey, whom Dunkenberger has described as having three batteries crammed in a two-battery slot, says she "can't really sit down." And her roommate Lindsay Biggs confirmed it with a smile and a roll of the eyes.

But the 5-foot-8 sophomore did listen when Dunkenberger said she'd like Grey to be a defensive specialist.

"It means I have a great role on the team," Grey said.

Oddly enough, it also led to her scoring a career-high 17 points Tuesday as the Hokies routed Radford 78-54 at Cassell Coliseum.

"It felt kind of weird," Grey said of the scoring. "My defense actually helped me on my offense. I'm kind of proud of myself, and it proves to everyone on the team that they can do it too."

Grey also grabbed six rebounds, three short of the career high she had in Tech's season-opener Friday when she didn't score a single point.

Not to be outdone, Biggs had a career-high 15 points and eight rebounds and tied a career high with six assists for the Hokies (2-0), who held the Highlanders to 25 percent shooting in the first half and did not let up after building a 20-point lead.

"We got some good shots off in the first half that just didn't fall and that kind of messes with your confidence," first-year Radford coach Tajama Ngongba said. "My players strive for perfection and it gets kind of frustrating for them."

Kymesha Alston and Charron Leeper each scored 11 points -- a career high for Leeper -- and pulled down eight rebounds for the Highlanders (0-2).

Held to just four points in the first half, preseason All-Big South pick Johnette Walker finished with 11 points and five steals for Radford.

The smaller Highlanders went 1-for-7 from 3-point range in the first half and 4-for-16 for the game and were buried in the paint. Tech outscored Radford 44-26 in the paint and 17-8 on second-chance shots after outrebounding the Highlanders 42-36.

Radford used pressure defense effectively at times, but Ngongba pointed out that even Tech's guards were getting points in the paint and rebounds. Grey is just 5-foot-8. Biggs is 5-11.

"I tell them that I was a big player who got boxed out," Ngongba said. "If you box out and be disciplined, good things will happen."

But most of the good things Tuesday happened on the Virginia Tech side of the ledger.

Lakeisha Logan had 10 points and Brittany Gordon scored eight points and had seven rebounds.

Utahya Drye had 14 points, five rebounds and five assists, but also had six turnovers.

Point guard Laura Haskins also had six turnovers, along with six points, four rebounds and three steals.

All six of Haskins' turnovers -- in fact, 14 of Tech's 22 -- came in the first half.

"I told Laura, 'You're putting as much pressure on them as they're putting on you. Take a deep breath,' " Dunkenberger said. "She just had to go at her own pace."

The Hokies did not, as they did in their opener Friday and in several games last season, let their foot off the gas in the second half.

Grey equated the game to practice for the upcoming ACC season.

"The ACC is nonstop," she said. "Quick, quick, quick."

Radford MP FG FT R A F PT

Alston 31 5-15 1-2 8 1 4 11

Leeper 27 4-7 3-4 8 0 3 11

Moton 31 4-14 0-0 3 2 2 8

Pullen 27 3-7 0-0 1 1 0 8

Walker 29 5-13 0-0 3 2 2 11

Hayes 13 0-2 0-0 4 0 3 0

Dodson 6 0-2 0-0 2 2 3 0

Wood 10 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0

Porter 10 2-3 0-0 2 0 1 5

Harmon 4 0-2 0-0 0 1 0 0

Morris 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Crosier 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Vick 8 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0

Totals 200 23-68 4-6 36 9 19 54

Virginia Tech MP FG FT R A F PT

Drye 32 6-10 2-2 5 5 2 14

Gordon 22 2-5 4-6 7 0 2 8

Biggs 30 6-11 2-2 8 6 1 15

Haskins 32 2-7 2-2 4 1 1 6

Grey 24 5-8 7-9 6 0 2 17

Lewis 14 2-3 0-2 1 1 1 4

Logan 19 4-7 1-1 2 1 1 10

Harrison 15 1-6 0-0 2 0 1 2

Basham 12 1-2 0-0 1 0 0 2

Totals 200 29-59 18-24 42 14 11 78

Rebounds include team rebounds.

Score by periods:

Radford 17 37 -- 54

Virginia Tech 34 44 -- 78

3-point goals:Radford 4-16 (Moton 0-3, Pullen 2-2, Walker 1-6, Dodson 0-1, Wood 0-1, Porter 1-2, Harmon 0-1), VT 2-5 (Biggs 1-2, Haskins 0-1, Logan 1-2).

Turnovers: Radford 23 (Alston 8), VT 22 (Drye 6).

Blocked shots: Radford 0, VT 5 (Gordon 2, Harrison 2).

Steals: Radford 12 (Walker 5), VT 10 (Haskins 3).

Technical foul: Alston.

Officials: Kantner, Newton, Outlaw. Attendance: 1,994.