Box Score BOX SCORE

Senior Ashlee' Samuels grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds to help lift the High Point University women's basketball team to a 78-57 win over Campbell on Wednesday night in the Millis Center. Four different HPU players scored in double figures as the Panthers outscored the Lady Camels,48-32, in the second half.

“We were a fast team tonight,” said head coach Tooey Loy. “This is a new system that we are running this year and we have been talking about how hard we have to play and how we need to have five people on the floor playing hard. We did that tonight and hopefully this is a just the start. We have learned exactly what we need to do to be good in this system. I think this is a huge step in the right direction for us.”

Samuels' 14 boards placed her in a tie for tenth most rebounds in a single game in HPU's Division I history. The senior bested her previous career-high of 13 rebounds which she set against King College on Nov. 10, 2007.

“Ashlee' was the bright spot for us on the road,” said Loy. “She has gotten better and better for us this year. She really improved over the summer so I really wasn't surprised to see her have a breakout game on the boards. She was also really good defensively. We are a smaller team and we are fast but when we make stops we need to get rebounds so we can run and Ashlee' did a good job doing that tonight.”

Campbell scored the first four points of the game in the opening three minutes to take an early lead before back-to-back threes by juniors Mackenzie Maier and Amy Dodd got HPU on the board and sparked a 24-7 run by the Panthers over the next nine minutes. Dodd scored eight points during the run to lead High Point while both Maier and junior Jurica Hargraves both contributed five points.

The Lady Camels fought back with a 14-6 run over the final eight minutes of the half to trim the High Point lead to five, 30-25, heading into the break. Dodd's eight points led all HPU scorers in the half. Ashley Williamson and Tonisha Baker each scored a team-best eight points for Campbell.

Up five heading into the second half, the Panthers steadily pulled away from Campbell, outscoring the Lady Camels 30-17 to build a 20 point lead, 62-42, with eight minutes remaining in the game. 

Campbell  refused to go away quietly, but was never able to trim the High Point lead as the two teams traded baskets the final eight minutes of the game.

Dodd finished with a team-best 14 points and was joined in double figures by Hargraves, who scored 13 points, Maier, who scored 12 points and sophomore Shamia Brown, who chipped in 11. 

Junior Frances Fields grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds to go along with her five points and nine assists. As a team, HPU's 51 rebounds was the most the team has grabbed this season and the highest total since Feb. 7, 2009, when the Panthers pulled down 54 boards against Coastal.

“This should be how it is going to be for us this season,” said Loy. “We are going to get a lot of points in transition and whoever runs is going to score. We have five or six kids that can put up 20 any night. The way we are going to play it is going to be balanced. That box score is what we want to see every night.”

Williamson led all scorers with 15 points for Campbell. Baker joined Willimson in double figures with 11 points. 

High Point improves to 3-5 overall and 2-0 at home with the win while Campbell falls to 4-2.

HPU returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 12, when they host the UNC Wilmington Seahawks. Tip-off in the Millis Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.