Box Score The No. 2 seed High Point University women's basketball team was edged by No. 6 seed Gardner-Webb, 78-76, in the semifinals of the 2009 Advance Auto Parts Women's Basketball Championship Saturday, March 14 at the Millis Center on the campus of High Point University. Gardner-Webb advances to Sunday's Championship game against No. 1 seed Liberty, which will be televised live at 4:00pm on SportSouth/MASN.
High Point (15-16) was led by LaTeisha Dean with a career-high 20 points. Jurica Hargraves added 17 points while Mackenzie Maier tallied 16 points, five assists and three blocked shots. Andrea Tucker pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

Gardner-Webb took control of the game from the beginning, with a 6-0 lead early on and a five-point advantage (13-8) at the 13:11 mark. Margaret Roundtree scored six of GWU's first eight points during that run. High Point then gained momentum behind a 15-3 run spanning the next six minutes to jump ahead 23-17 with 7:29 remaining in the first half. The Panthers then stretched the lead to nine points at 31-22, but Gardner-Webb fought back and moved within two at 31-29 with 2:48 remaining. High Point reeled off a 10-5 run to close out the half for a 41-34 advantage at intermission.

High Point was led by Dean with 13 points at the break, while Maier added 11. The Runnin' Bulldogs were paced by Roundtree's 14 points. Both teams shot nearly identical percentages from the field in the first half, as the Panthers hit 14-of-36 field goal attempts (38.9 percent), compared to Gardner-Webb's 37.8 percent (14-of-37). GWU also out-rebounded High Point, 27-23, thanks to Roundtree's seven boards.

Both teams opened the second half hitting on all cylinders, as the teams combined for 21 points and 10-of-16 from the field in the opening 4:33, with High Point still ahead 52-44 at that point. HPU's lead grew to 54-46, but Gardner-Webb slowly chipped away the deficit and first moved within two points on Courtney Epps' three-pointer with 13:20 remaining. Hargraves kept High Point ahead most of the second half with 12 of her 17 points coming during the period, and the game was closely contested the rest of the way, as GWU would pull within two points on six more occasions.

With High Point leading 76-74 with 35 seconds left, Hudson was fouled attempting a three-pointer. She hit her three free throws to give Gardner-Webb its first lead since the 10:13 mark of the first half. Meranda Burnett's free throw a few moments later clinched the final margin and a Championship game berth.

Hudson scored a game-high 25 points, while Roundtree added 20 with nine rebounds. LaTroya Pope notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Gardner-Webb shot 59.3 percent from the floor in the second half to finish the day at 46.9 percent (30-of-64). High Point made 10-of-30 field goals in the final 20 minutes and 24-of-66 for the game (36.4).