Host Birmingham-Southern handed High Point its first Big South loss of the season and snapped HPU's two-game win streak with a 59-49 win Saturday afternoon in a women's basketball battle of Panthers at Bill Battle Coliseum in Birmingham, Ala.

Charlena Martin tied her career-high and led all scorers with 23 points for HPU.

Lindsay Boyett scored 20 points for BSC, while Ricka Spears recorded a double-double (13 points, 12 rebounds).

High Point falls to 7-8 overall and 1-1 in Big South play, while BSC improves to 9-6 (1-1).

Birmingham-Southern never trailed, but never was able to shove High Point to a comfortable distance. The Panthers of the Alabama variety jumped out to an 8-2 lead before a three-pointer by Emily Mills cut the lead in half.

BSC then put together a run and led by as many as 11 points in the opening period before taking a 29-22 advantage to intermission. High Point shot just 8-of-32 (25 percent) from the floor in the first half, but trailed by just seven at the break.

Trailing 35-24, High Point put together a 9-2 run to getwithin two points at 37-35 on a Kate Jenner layup with 13:24 to play, and after a layup by Spears on the other end, Martin nailed one of her four three-point baskets to pull the Panthers within a single point, 39-38, with 10:58 left.

But BSC held HPU scoreless for the next five minutes and went on an 11-0 spurt before Katie O'Dell stopped the bleeding with a jumper to cut the Panthers' lead to 10 points at 50-40 with 5:41 to go.

HPU got within five points on two more occasions, the last with 42 seconds left (54-49) following Martin's final three of the day. Birmingham-Southern hit five free throws in the final 32 seconds to ice the victory.

Mills had nine points and Jenner seven points for HPU, which outrebounded BSC 37-32. O'Dell had three assists and two steals, but was held to her lowest scoring total of the season (five points).

High Point returns to action on Wednesday night at UNC Asheville. Tip-off in Asheville's Justice Center is set for 7:00 pm. The game will be broadcast on WIST 98.3-FM in High Point, and worldwide at highpointpanthers.com.