High Point got 13 points and 12 rebounds from Katie O'Dell and 14 points from Charlena Martin to advance to the semifinals of the 2005 Advance Auto Parts Big South Women's Basketball Championship with a 55-41 win over Coastal Carolina Tuesday night in the Millis Center.

The No. 2-seeded Panthers (17-11) won their ninth-straight game and will face third-seeded UNC Asheville on Friday night in the second semifinal in Lynchburg, Va. The seventh-seeded Lady Chants finish their season at 9-18.

O'Dell's double-double was her eighth of the season and 12th of her career. Freshman Amber Manuel grabbed seven rebounds for the Panthers.

Demaria Young and Courtney Brown paced Coastal with 11 points apiece. The Lady Chants were held to 19.7 percent shooting (12-for-61) from the field.

The Panthers scored 12 of the game's first 13 points. Coastal missed its first eight shots from the field and trailed 16-3 after Sarah Haak converted a layup at the 13:26 mark for High Point's biggest lead of the opening half. But the Lady Chants stormed back with a 14-4 run over the next seven minutes to pull within 20-17 on a pair of Young free throws with 6:24 to play in the half.

HPU shot 41.2 percent in the first half en route to a 30-21 halftime advantage. Young had all 11 of her points in the first 20 minutes.

The Panthers outscored Coastal 23-5 out of the second-half gates to open a 28-point cushion at 53-25. The Lady Chants, who knocked High Point off in the first round of last year's Tournament, made a late run to get within 14 points but ran out of time and HPU advanced.

Friday night's HPU/UNC Asheville contest will be the second semifinal of the evening, with top-seeded Liberty hosting No. 4-seeded Birmingham-Southern in the 6:00 pm opener. Both games will be televised on the Big South TV Network.

QUOTES
High Point head coach Tooey Loy
"We were able to jump on them early and play our style of ball. We took good shots and were able to score in transition."

High Point senior guard Charlena Martin
"This is a good win for us. It feels even better considering this was a revenge game since they knocked us out of the tournament last year."