Jurica Hargraves and Shamia Brown combined for 32 points to lead a quartet of Panthers in double figures on Saturday night as the High Point University women's basketball team defeated Charleston Southern, 73-68 in the Big South Conference opener.

Hargraves and Brown had 16 points each for the Panthers (4-9, 1-0 BSC). Brown also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for her third double-double of the season and her second in as many games. Frances Fields had 14 points and six assists while Mackenzie Maier tallied 11 points.

For the Lady Bucs (5-7, 0-1 BSC) Pam Tolbert had 16 points. Kelsey Wasmer added 11 points while Lechell Rush had 10. Kiki Rutledge posted a team-high 10 rebounds.

High Point came out on fire and took a quick 6-0 lead in the opening minutes fueled by back-to-back baskets from Fields. The Bucs closed the lead to two, 10-8, but the Panthers responded extended the lead back to seven off a jumper from Hargraves. CSU again cut the lead back down to two with just under 10 minutes to go in the opening half, but the Panthers went on an 18-9 run to take their largest lead of the half, on top by 11 (36-25) with 3:06 left to play. Charleston Southern responded with a run of its own, allowing the Panthers just two more points in the half as the Bucs cut the lead down to six (38-32) going into the intermission.

CSU continued its run coming out of the break and tied up the game up at 46 with at the 13:33 mark. The two teams battled back and forth as there were four more ties and three lead changes. High Point regained the lead with 4:34 left to play off a layup from Andrea Tucker. High Point led by as many as seven in the final minutes with the last time coming with 12 seconds left. The Panthers went 7-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final minute to secure the win.

After only recording 18 rebounds to CSU's 21 in the first half, High Point out rebounded the Lady Bucs 30-23 in the second half. Both teams held on to the ball well with HPU forcing 11 turnovers and giving the ball up 12 times.

The Panthers will continue their opening weekend of Big South play on Monday at Coastal Carolina. Game time is set for 5:00 p.m.