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Five different players scored in double-digits for the High Point University women's basketball team to help the Panthers to an 88-74 win over Radford Monday night in the Millis Center. Junior LaTeisha Dean tied a career high with 20 points to lead all HPU scorers.

“This was a win over a very good Radford team,” head coach Tooey Loy said. “This is the same team that took Gardner-Webb to double overtime a few days ago. They played a great game tonight, knocked down every open look they had. We got back to doing the things we want to do. We shared the ball and had a lot of movement on offense. We had five people in double figures and got contributions all the way down to out ninth and tenth players.”

The 88 points scored by the Panthers was their highest point total of the season. Dean shot 7-14 from the floor and 4-4 from the line to tie her career high for the second time this season. Joining the Virginia Beach, Va., native in double figures for the game was junior Jurica Hargraves with 15, junior Frances Fields with 12 and both senior Ashlee' Samuels and sophomore Shamia Brown with 10.

“It was all about sharing the basketball and getting out in transition,” Loy said. “Frances Fields did a great job of pushing the tempo and making good decisions in transition. She had four assists and no turnovers. Mackenzie made a lot of good reads in our matchup zone and had five assists. It was a great overall team effort.”

After Radford took an early 10-3 lead in the first four minutes of the game, Dean responded with seven-straight points to pull High Point even, 10-10 with 14:48 left in the first half. Dean opened the scoring binge with a 15-foot jumper and followed that with a straightaway three and a floater in the lane.

After two quick baskets by the Highlanders put them back up four, junior Amy Dodd connected on a three from the right elbow and Dean hit a jumper from just inside the three-point line to give HPU a 15-14 lead with 13 minutes left in the period.

RU called a timeout to try and stop the Panther run, but High Point continued to pull away out of the break, scoring seven straight to go up 22-15 with just over 11 minutes left in the half. Freshman Jazmin Cromartie scored twice from the low block to account for four of HPU's seven points.

After a media timeout, the Highlanders managed to put the brakes on the HPU run, outscoring the Panthers 8-2 to pull within one, 24-23, with a little under seven minutes left in the half.

The HPU lead would swing from one to six points over the final minutes of the half as the Panthers received timely threes from Hargraves and junior Mackenzie Maier and went 6-6 from the free throw line to head into the break up 42-39.

Dean led all Panther scorers at the midway point with nine points while both Spencer and Kymesha Alston had 12 points to pace Radford.

The Panthers continued their strong play in the second half, using an 8-3 run to take a 50-42 lead which forced Radford to call timeout just two and a half minutes into the second stanza.

A 9-0 run by Radford erased an eight-point High Point lead and gave the Highlanders a 57-56 lead with just under 11 minutes left in the game. But the Panthers were unfazed by the run, responding with seven straight points to jump back ahead by six, 63-57, with a little less than 10 minutes remaining in the game. Dean scored five points in the run with a three from the right elbow and a 10-foot fadeaway.

The two teams traded baskets over next seven minutes until a fast-break lay-up by Dean with a little over two minutes left in the contest gave the Panthers a 78-70 lead.

After a missed lay-up by Alston, Radford was forced to foul and HPU made three of four free throws in the final two minutes to seal the 88-74 win.

Maier had seven blocks to tie her HPU Division I single-game blocks record for the fifth time in conference play. The Charleston, W.Va., native also had seven points, seven rebounds and five assists in the contest.

Both Alston and Erwin-Spencer finished with a game-high 24 points to lead Radford.

The High Point players and coaches wore pink in support of breast cancer research during the WBCA Pink Zone game and HPU helped to raise $1,360 for the Kay Yow Fund for Breast Cancer Research.  

The win breaks a four-game losing streak for High Point which improves to 14-11 overall and 7-5 in the Big South. With the loss Radford falls to 5-17 overall and 4-7 in the conference. The Highlanders return to action on Saturday when they host Charleston Southern.

The Panthers continue their four-game home stand on Saturday, Feb. 20 when they host the Bulldogs of UNC Asheville. Dodd scored a career-high 28 points to lead HPU to a 77-63 win over Asheville in the teams' first meeting. Tip-off against UNCA is set for 4 p.m.