Four players scored double figures for High Point today as they defeated Birmingham-Southern, 70-60 in the Big South women's basketball opener. HPU improves to 8-7, 1-0 in the Big South while Birmingham falls to 5-10, 0-1 Big South.

Leading the way was senior Leslie Cook with 14 points. Katie Ralls and Amber Manuel added 13 while Candyce Sellars knocked down 11. Ralls' 13 points is a season high. Caitlin Thys pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

For Birmingham, Reba Ross scored a game-high 23 points on 10-of-16 from the field. Pam Thornborrow added 11 points.

High Point came out strong to start the game, going on an early 29-6 run, highlighted by back-to-back three pointers from Cook and Sellars. Birmingham did not reach double figures until 6:22 left in the half off a pair of free throws from Ross. BSC went on an 11-0 run to close out the half and close the lead to 13 (34-21) going into the break.

Birmingham came out firing in the second half to cut the lead to eight off a lay-up from Fredereka Burrell at 17:13 before HPU responded with a 21-5 run over the next six minutes to take a 24 point lead (57-33) at 11:26. Highlighting the run were three pointers from Ralls and Cook. Birmingham wouldn't go away and rallied to outscore HPU, 18-3 to pull within nine (60-51) with just under two minutes left in the game. High Point would hit 8-of-10 free throws over the final minutes to seal the 70-60 victory.

HPU won the battle on the boards, outrebounding BSC 44-34. High Point shot 45.5-percent from the field including 40-percent from behind the arc. HPU also shot 70-percent from the charity stripe.

Tonight's win gives HPU head coach Tooey Loy 90 career wins. He moves into second All-Time career wins at HPU and replaces Nancy Little, who coached from 1979-1985. He also moves into a tie for seventh in the Big South Conference with former Charleston Southern head coach Fran Francello who coached from 1993-2001.

"We played really well in spurts tonight," said High Point head coach Tooey Loy. "Conference road wins are always important and we're happy to come out of Birmingham with a win."

High Point will be back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 17 when they travel to UNC Asheville. Game time is set for 7 p.m.