Box Score Radford's Sarah Stephens nailed a three-pointer with 6.2 seconds left to lead the Highlanders back from a 10-point second-half deficit and a 55-52 win over High Point Wednesday night in the Millis Center.
 
The Panthers (13-13, 7-6 Big South) missed a chance to clinch a home game in next week's Big South Tournament and fall into a tie for third place with the victorious Highlanders (14-12, 6-6).

Katie O'Dell led High Point with 13 points, while Katie Ralls (11 points) and Charlena Martin (10 points) also scored in double-figures for HPU.

Amanda Neby paced Radford with a game-high 16 points. Taryn Causey added 12 points for the Highlanders.

The lead changed hands five times in the first eight minutes. HPU grabbed a 13-12 advantage at the 11:50 mark on an old-fashioned three-point play by Tonya Tripp. The Panthers led by as many as five points before the Highlanders drew even at 25-25 when Neby scored two of her 12 first-half points with 13 seconds left. But Martin hit a jumper on the other end with three seconds left to send the Panthers into halftime with a slim 27-25 cushion.

High Point pushed its lead up to 10 points after a Ralls layup with 15:36 left made it 37-27. The Highlanders scored 11 of the next 12 points and pulled even at 38-38 on a three-pointer by Robin Kantin at the 10:18 mark.

The game went back and forth until Kantin gave the Highlanders a 47-45 lead when her layup swished through with 2:26 left. Ralls immediately answered with a three on the other end, and a missed shot by Causey led to a fast-break which resulted in a layup by O'Dell and a 50-47 HPU cushion with 1:42 to play.

Stephens (who went 4-of-5 from the field) grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with 1:11 to go to pull RU within 50-49. O'Dell answered with a rebound and putback of her own with 55.7 seconds left, but Causey tied the score back at 52-52 on a huge trey with 42.8 seconds to go.

The Panthers brought the ball down and Martin missed a three-pointer with 26.0 seconds left, and Neby grabbed the rebound. Following a Radford timeout, Kylie Williamson found a wide-open Stephens just outside the three-point line, and her shot hit nothing but net with 6.2 seconds left for the eventual winning basket and the 55-52 margin. Martin's three-pointer in the final seconds was off the mark, and the Highlanders celebrated.

Radford held a 42-38 advantage on the boards, and shot 40 percent (22-for-55) from the field to High Point's 35 percent (22-for-63).

Martin had a game-high six assists, while Ralls tallied five rebounds, five steals and a career-high three blocks for the Panthers, who combined for nine blocked shots.

Stephens grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for RU, and Causey notched four steals.

The Panthers finish the regular season Saturday night at Winthrop. Tip-off in the Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill is set for 7:00 pm. The 2004 Advance Auto Parts Big South Tournament begins Tuesday, Mar. 9, exclusively at campus sites.

High Point could be seeded second, third, fourth, or fifth, depending on the results of this weekend's games. Visit highpointpanthers.com to stay up to date.