Box Score BOX SCORE

The High Point women's basketball team used a stifling defense to pick up a 56-41 win over Presbyterian College on Saturday in Clinton, S.C. The Panthers held PC to just 33.3 percent shooting (16-48) and forced 19 turnovers to pick up the win.

“This was an all-around team effort here today,” head coach Tooey Loy said. “We had 10 players ready to go today and got good performances from all 10. The first 10 minutes of the second half was as good as we have been all year defensively. We shut down everything they wanted to do which allowed us get into transition. We did some good things on both ends of the floor and are getting better and better every week.”

Junior Shamia Brown led a balanced HPU attack with 11 points in the win. Presbyterian's Mariah Pietrowski finished with 17 points in the contest to lead all scorers on the afternoon.

The win was HPU's third in a row as the Panthers moved back to .500 on the season at 10-10 and improved to 4-3 in the Big South. Presbyterian drops to 5-14 overall and 2-5 in the Big South.

High Point jumped out to an early 8-0 advantage with six points coming down low in the paint. Brown led HPU with four points early while senior Frances Fields and freshman Cheyenne Parker each scored from close range.

The Panthers continued to slowly build their lead to 13, 23-10, with 6:25 left in the period before a 9-2 run by the Blue Hose pulled Presbyterian College to within six at 25-19. The two sides traded baskets down the stretch until a three-pointer by senior LaTeisha Dean at the buzzer put HPU up 11, 33-22, heading into the locker rooms.

Brown led all scorers at the break with 10 points for HPU. The forward scored eight of her 10 in the paint where High Point held a 14-8 advantage at the break. The Panther defense forced 11 PC turnovers in the half to limit the Blue Hose's offense.

High Point continued its suffocating defense in the second half, outscoring Presbyterian 22-9 to take a 55-31 lead with just under nine minutes left in the game. The Panthers featured a balanced attack with eight different players scoring for HPU during the run.

Presbyterian closed the game on a 10-1 run but the Panthers managed to hang on for a 56-41 win.

Dean shot a perfect 4-4 from the field against the Blue Hose and finished as the only other HPU player in double figures with 10 points.

High Point continues its road swing on Monday when the Panthers head to Charleston, S.C., to take on Charleston Southern at 7 p.m. HPU split its two meetings with the Lady Buccaneers last season as both teams picked up wins in their home gyms.