Box Score Sophomore Mackenzie Maier set a Big South Tournament single game record with seven blocked shots tonight while tallying 16 points as the No. 2 seed High Point University women's basketball team defeated No. 7 seed UNC Asheville, 72-67 in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Advance Auto Parts Big South Women's Basketball Championship on Fri. March 13. HPU advances to the semifinals and will host No. 6 seed Gardner-Webb. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m. and will be aired live on SportSouth/MASN.

Maier went 6-of-8 from the field and 3-of-4 from the line. Jurica Hargraves knocked down 6-of-6 from the free throw line and finished with a team-high 18 points for High Point. Frances Fields added 14 while Shamia Brown posted 10.

High Point raced out to a 12-4 lead in the opening 4:18 after hitting five of its first eight field goal attempts, and moved ahead 20-6 at 12:57. Asheville chipped away at High Point's lead with a 14-5 run that cut the deficit to five points at 25-20 with 7:31 remaining in the first half. Kendall Shepard's three-pointer at 6:44 made it a four-point game at 27-23, but High Point reeled off three consecutive fast breaks as part of a 14-2 run in the next 3:56 to move ahead 41-25. Asheville outscored the Panthers 12-4 in the final 2:51 to close the gap to eight points at the break with HPU leading, 45-37.

The Panthers made 20-of-32 field goal attempts in the first half (62.5 percent), while the Bulldogs connected on 16-of-34 (47.1). High Point recorded 16 fast break points and forced 10 Asheville turnovers. Individually, Hargraves led HPU with 10 points in the opening half. UNC Asheville's Linda Aughburns paced her squad with eight points and seven rebounds.

Both teams struggled to score to open the second half, as they combined for just 15 points (Asheville 8, High Point 7). The Panthers still had a seven-point lead at 52-45 with 11:51 remaining despite the early cold shooting (HPU was 2-of-11 and Asheville went 3-of-20). But Asheville kept chipping away at the lead and came back from a 12-point deficit to make it a two-point game at 65-63 with 1:02 remaining. It would be as close as the Bulldogs would get in the waning moments, as High Point's free throws down the stretch were the difference.

With High Point leading 70-67 with 12 ticks left, UNC Asheville had a chance for the tie. But Shepard's layup attempt underneath was swatted away by Maier, ensuring the Panthers' victory. It was Maier's Big South Tournament game record seventh blocked shot, breaking the previous best of six.

Aughburns led four Asheville players in double figures with 18 points. Lindsey Montgomery posted a double-double in the losing effort with 11 points and 10 rebounds. High Point finished the game 27-of-55 shooting from the floor (49.1 percent) and 17-of-22 from the foul line (77.3). The Bulldogs hit 39.4 percent of their field goals (28-of-71) and tied a Big South Tournament game record with a perfect 10-of-10 effort from the charity stripe.

High Point (15-15) clinches its second consecutive berth in the Big South Semifinals and fifth appearance under Head Coach Tooey Loy. UNC Asheville ends its season at 10-20.