High Point Downs UNC Asheville, 94-75

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Leading by seven at halftime the Panthers of High Point opened the second half on a 28-to-8 run to pull away from the UNC Asheville Bulldogs en route to a 94-75 HPU victory on Saturday afternoon at the Justice Center in Big South Conference women's basketball action.

Shamia Brown and Amy Dodd led the Panthers on offense with 18 points apiece with Jurica Hargraves chipping in 17 to the High Point total. Hargraves also dished out seven assists as the Panthers improved to 7-8 overall with a 1-1 mark in the Big South.

Asheville was led on offense by Breaira Barksdale who scored 16 points while tallying a team-high four assists. However, the Bulldogs' defense could not slow down the high-powered Panthers as the Blue & White gave up its second highest point total to an opponent this season.

“It's frustrating because we've really been working hard on our defense in practice and it's just not showing,” said Asheville head coach Betsy Blose. “We may need to try some different things to shake things up, in practice and in games.”

The Bulldogs fall to 7-6 on the season with a 0-2 record in league play.

Grace Blaylock, Lindsey Montgomery, Kelli Riles and Kendall Shepard each scored 10 points for the Bulldogs with Montgomery and Riles earning nine rebounds apiece. Montgomery also came away with a season-high three steals in the contest.

LaTeisha Dean also scored in double figures for the Panthers, adding 16 to the High Point total. As good as the offense was for the Panthers it was the defense that put the game out of reach. High Point tallied 11 blocks as a team with Cheyenne Parker recording a game-high six rejections coming off the bench.

The Bulldogs started the game hitting on all cylinders, jumping out to a 24-19 lead over the first nine minutes of the game. Minutes later a 3-pointer by Hargraves gave the Panthers a 26-24 lead and High Point would never trail the rest of the way.

HPU built its lead to as much as 11 in the first half before Asheville was able to close the advantage to only seven points heading into the break, trailing 48-41.

The Panthers would come out in the second half firing and built their lead to 76-49 over the first 10 minutes of the frame, holding Asheville to only eight points in that span. HPU would lead by as much as 28 on their way to the 19-point victory.

The Bulldogs will welcome defending Big South Conference Champion Liberty to the Justice Center on Monday evening in a contest set to begin at 7 p.m. Due to inclement weather expected in the greater Asheville area there could be a change in start time. The Panthers travel to Radford on Monday to take on the Highlanders in a Big South Matchup.

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Players Mentioned

Grace Blaylock

Lindsey Montgomery

Kelli Riles

Kendall Shepard

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics