Five players scored in double figures as the High Point University women's basketball team past dropped Winthrop, 74-63, tonight at Winthrop Coliseum.

Leading the balanced attack for the Panthers (10-8, 3-1) was sophomore Ayonna Thompson and senior Candyce Sellars with 15 points each. Caitlin Thys added 14 while Leslie Cook and Amber Manuel chipped in 11 and 10, respectively. Sellars also dished out a season high six assists.

For the Eagles (4-17, 1-4) Ashley Haugtvedt had a career high 19 points in the loss. Tiffany Rodd added 14 while Yvonne van Daalen had 10.

High Point opened the game with a solid first half, shooting 61.5-percent from behind the arc, shooting 8-of-13. The two teams battled in the opening minutes before the Panthers went on a 19-3 run sparked by a three pointer from Thompson at the 8:18 mark to give the Panthers a 20 point lead (39-19) with 3:49 left in the first. Winthrop would rally to outscore HPU 10-2 and cut the lead to down to 12, 41-29, going into the break.

Winthrop continued its run to start the second half, outscoring High Point, 10-3 and pull within five (44-39) at the 16:14 mark. The Panthers responded with four straight baskets to pull the lead back to 14, 53-39. WU would again rally to pull within seven, 57-50, but HPU held off the Eagles, outscoring WU 7-0 over the next four minutes to pull ahead 64-50 at 4:33. The Eagles would again cut the lead to single digits going into the final minutes, but a three pointer from Sellars would pull the Panthers back to a double-digit lead (69-57) with 2:34 remaining. In the final minute Thompson connected on 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to seal the victory for the Panthers.

"One thing we need to take out of this game is that when we have a big lead, we have to keep going," said HPU head coach Tooey Loy. "It was a little disappointing to let Winthrop come back, but we played very well in stretches tonight. It's always good when you can win on the road in the Big South."

Both teams were pretty even on rebounds with Winthrop holding the slight, 34-32 advantage. The Panthers scored 31 points off of 23 Eagle turnovers.

High Point will be back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 31 when they host Radford. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in the Millis Center. The Radford game is the first of three straight home games for the Panthers.