Radford broke open a scoreless game with a pair of second-half goals and held off a furious High Point rally to nip the Panthers, 2-1, in the final Big South regular-season game for both teams Wednesday night at Albion Millis Stadium.

Jen Evans scored the lone goal for the Panthers, who fall to 7-9-0 (3-4-0 in Big South play), while the Highlanders improve to 8-7-2 (3-2-2).

After an uneventful and scoreless first half, the Highlanders broke through with a goal in the 58th minute off a long free kick by Sarah Rutherford which found Jonita Hooker in the box. Hooker pushed the shot past HPU keeper Courtney Noel to give Radford a 1-0 lead.

The Highlanders made it 2-0 in the 74th minute on Alexis Stewart's goal off a Hooker assist.

But the Panthers rallied and cut the deficit in half on Evans' team-leading 10th goal of the season in the 85th minute. Anni Svensson fed Evans from the left corner, and her shot beat Radford keeper Tara Oleartchick for the score.

HPU was unable to come up with the equalizer in the final five minutes, despite an energetic push. The Panthers had an opportunity in the 90th minute when Evans played a long ball into the box, but Wendy Williams was unable to reach it in time and Oleartchick covered it up to seal the victory.

The Panthers held a 12-11 edge in shots and a 3-1 margin in corner kicks. Oleartchick made four saves in net for the Highs, while Noel stopped two shots for HPU.

High Point hosts Wofford at 4:30 pm Saturday afternoon in its regular-season finale before hosting the 2003 Radisson Hotel High Point Women's Soccer Championship beginning on Thursday, Nov. 6. The tournament will crown the Conference champion and determine the Big South's representative in the 2003 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship.