Box Score BOX SCORE

Junior Mackenzie Maier scored 21 points and sophomore Shamia Brown had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds to help the High Point University women's basketball team pull out a hard-fought 69-64 win over Presbyterian on Saturday night in Clinton, S.C.

“We didn't play our best game tonight but we played well enough to win,” said head coach Tooey Loy. “We had a number of players make big plays. Mackenzie and Shamia were great for us inside offensively and Mackenzie also stepped outside and hit some three pointers. We had to shoot the ball well tonight to win because we didn't do the little things. We need to get back to doing the little things and if we do that we will get back to playing how we were a couple weeks ago. We also need to give Presbyterian College credit, they really played hard. They out-scrapped us and were more physical inside.”

With the win, the Panthers improved to 12-7 overall on the season and 5-1 in the Big South.

After a slow start which saw HPU trailing 9-8 after six minutes, High Point went on a 15-0 run over the next 4:22 to take an 23-9 lead with just under 10 minutes left in contest. Brown scored six points in the run for HPU.

The Blue Hose responded with a 12-5 run to pull back to within seven, 32-25, with three and a half minutes left in the first half and forced the Panthers to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, junior Jurica Hargraves pushed the lead back to 10 with a three from the left side.

The two teams traded baskets over the final minutes of the period with the Panthers taking a 38-30 lead into the half. 

Hargraves finished the first half with a team-best 12 points, all from behind the arc, to lead High Point while Maier joined Hargraves in double figures with 11 points. PC's Dria David scored eight points to lead PC. Presbyterian outscored HPU 22-4 from inside the paint in the first half but the Panthers were hot from behind the arc, scoring 24 points on 8-14 shooting.

Presbyterian continued to control the paint in the second half scoring 10 points down low in the first five minutes of the second half to trim the High Point lead to 44-40.

After a fast-break lay-up by the Blue Hose pulled PC to within two, High Point went on a 7-0 run to take a 51-42 lead with 14 minutes left in the contest. Junior LaTeisha Dean hit a 15-footer to spark the run while junior Frances Fields had a backcourt steal and layup and Maier hit a three from the left baseline.

High Point still led by 10, 57-47, with 10:42 remaining when PC used a 7-0 run over the following three minutes to pull within three, 57-54. Five-straight points by Dean on a three from the right elbow and a layup ended the run and gave HPU an eight-point lead, 62-54 with five minutes left in the game.

Presbyterian managed pull within five, 63-58, with just under two minutes remaining but a three from the left elbow by Maier pushed the HPU lead back to eight, 66-58. PC pulled within four twice in the final minute but Brown and freshman Erin Reynolds combined to go 3-4 from the line and Hargraves picked off a PC pass in the final seconds to seal the 69-64 win.

The Panthers tied a season high with 11 three pointers in the game, finishing 11-23 from behind the arc for a 47.8 percentage. Maier went 5-8 from three-point range to lead the team.

“They played zone and we moved the ball well to get open looks but you still need to knock them down,” said Loy. “Mackenzie and Jurica got hot early and LaTeisha hit a couple. We got a good shooting team when we take good shots.”

Hargraves finished the game with 14 points for High Point to join Maier and Brown in double figures.

Mariah Pietrowski scored 19 points to pace the Blue Hose who fell to 2-15 on the season and 1-4 in the Big South with the loss.

High Point will continue its two-game road swing on Monday, Jan. 25 when the team heads to Asheville, N.C., to play UNC Asheville. Tip-off against the Bulldogs is scheduled for 7 p.m.