Katie LaRue pounded out 19 points as fifth-seeded Charleston Southern edged fourth-seeded High Point 74-69 in Wednesday afternoon's second quarterfinal game of the 2002 Advance Auto Parts Big South Conference Women's Basketball Championship at the Roanoke Civic Center.

CSU sprinted to a 27-11 lead with 11:41 to play in the first half and never trailed. The Lady Buccaneers stretched that advantage to 35-16 with 7:09 remaining in the first stanza for its largest lead.

With the victory, the Lady Buccaneers (12-15) advance to the tournament's semifinal round for the fifth consecutive season and for the sixth time in seven years. One of the conference's original members, Charleston Southern has yet to earn an appearance in the championship game.

"They jumped out and really jumped all over us in the first half," said High Point coach Tooey Loy, who lost starting guard Misty Brockman to an ankle injury nine minutes into the contest. "That (the loss of Brockman) took a lot wind out of our sails, but the big factor really was their defense in the second half. They were active and they had hands in the passing lanes."

The Panthers (13-15) moved no closer than nine points until they cut the deficit to eight with 4:48 left at 64-58. Mary Brewer later brought High Point within 67-64 with a three-point basket with 1:05 to play.

"We showed that we have heart and that we're going to battle," said Brewer. "That means more than anything."

LaRue responded to Brewer's big bucket with a three-pointer of her own to give the Lady Bucs a 70-64 cushion with 36 ticks left.

"You've got to take it (that shot), be confident and just make the shot," said LaRue. "No matter how the ball falls, you just have to be tough."

The Panthers were paced by Narelle Henry (22 points, six assists), Stephanie Scott (17 points) and Brewer (12 points, game-high 12 rebounds).

CSU countered being outshot (41 percent-39 percent) and being outrebounded (43-42) by forcing 21 High Point turnovers. The Lady Bucs committed 16 turnovers themselves.

Wednesday's game was the final contest in the High Point careers of seniors Brewer and Toni Vick.

All-Big South Teams Announced

Three HPU women were named All-Big South Conference second team during ceremonies Tuesday night.

Panthers Mary Brewer, Misty Brockman and Narelle Henry were honored as second-team members.

The first team consists of Big South player of the year Holly Andrews (Elon), Nikki Reddick (Coastal Carolina), Meribeth Feenstra (Liberty), Amanda Neby (Radford) and Jessica Guarneri (UNC Asheville).

Charleston Southern's Ces Champagne and Elon's Jayme Chikos joined the HPU trio on second team.

Liberty's Kristal Tharp was named conference rookie of the year, and Radford's Kristen Holt took coach of the year honors.

In addition to Tharp, the Big South all-rookie team consists of Amanda Eckberg (Charleston Southern), Katie Feenstra (Liberty) Stephanie Walker (Liberty) and Ashley Sharpton (UNC Asheville).

Brewer was also named to the Big South's all-academic team. Winthrop's Charlotta Wennefors was honored as the league's top scholar athlete.

Charleston Southern (74) - Daniels 5-8 5-6 15, Champagne 5-18 3-4 13, Ekberg 3-5 3-4 9, LaRue 5-16 6-6 19, Littlejohn 4-6 2-9 12, Farley 0-0 0-0 0, Crandall 1-2 0-0 2, Jedlikowski 1-7 2-2 4.

High Point (69) - O'Brien 0-4 0-0 0, S. Scott 7-13 3-5 17, Brewer 5-10 1-1 12, Henry 8-15 2-3 22, Brockman 2-7 0-0 5, C. Scott 3-7 1-2 7, Vick 2-8 0-1 5, Rosser 0-2 1-2 1.

Charleston Southern              44  30  74 High Point                                 31  38  69

3-Point Goals- Charleston Southern 5-9 (LaRue 3-6, Littlejohn 2-3), High Point 7-22 (Henry 4-8, Brewer 1-2, Brockman 1-3, Vick 1-7, C. Scott 0-1, O'Brien 0-1). Fouled out- None. Rebounds- Charleston Southern 42 (Champagne 11), High Point 43 (Brewer 12). Assists- Charleston Southern 16 (Champagne 4), High Point 17 (Henry 6).