Senior guard Katie Ralls hit a jumper as time was winding down to propel High Point past Big South rival Liberty, 64-62 in overtime. HPU improves to 9-8 and 2-1 in Big South play while the Flames fall to 10-8 and 2-1 in the conference.

Leading the Panthers was senior Candyce Sellars with 21 points. Leslie Cook added 12 for the victory. Ralls dished out a career-high nine assists.

The Flames recorded four players in double figures with Molly Frazee leading the charge with 13 points. Moriah Frazee added 12 while Megan Frazee and Michelle Parker each had 10.

Liberty got on the board first and jumped out to an early four point lead at 17:21 off a jumper from Meagan Frazee. The Panthers were quick to respond with back-to-back three pointers from Sellars and Cook. The two teams would battle for the lead over the next two minutes before a jumper from Caitlin Thys sparked an 8-1 run that would give the Panthers an 11 point lead, 24-13, and the largest lead of the game. Liberty would not go away and outscored the Panthers, 15-7 to close out the half and cut the lead to three, 31-28 going into the break.

Coming out of the intermission HPU's Cook nailed a three followed by back-to-back baskets from Sellars to give the Panthers a 10 point, 38-28 lead in the opening minutes of the second period. The Flames would rally to pull within two at 15:09 off a three point play from Allyson Fasnacht. High Point again responded to pull ahead by eight, 46-38, with 10 minutes remaining off a jumper from Andrea Tucker. Liberty would keep the score close and with a three pointer from Karolina Piotrkiewicz at the 5:10 mark took their first lead of the second half, 46-47. The Flames held a one point advantage going into the final 30 seconds of regulation, but as time ran down a foul from Liberty's Parker would send Amber Manuel to the line. Manuel hit the backside of a pair of free throws to send the game into overtime.

High Point came out strong into the overtime period and got on the board first with a three pointer from Sellars, who scored seven of her 21 points in the extra frame. The Panthers would lead the entire overtime and went up by as many as six with 1:57 remaining before Moriah Frazee hit back-to-back three pointers to tie the game with 22 seconds remaining. As the game looked to be going into a second overtime, HPU would get one last possession. Ralls brought the ball down the court and hit a jumper to give the Panthers the win.

"We were able to really get on fire," said High Point University head coach Tooey Loy. "We couldn't ask for more from our team than the performance they gave tonight. It's games like this when a strong crowd and solid fan support are really important. You don't win games like this without great fans."

Liberty won the battle on the boards, out-rebounding HPU, 47-38. The two teams were even at 16 on turnovers. Tonight's game saw nine lead changes and six ties. The Panthers held the slight 18-14 advantage on points in the paint.

The Panthers will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 27 when they travel to Rock Hill, S.C. to face Winthrop.