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The High Point University women's basketball team dropped its first home game of the season as the Panthers fell to Mercer, 75-67, on Friday night at the Millis Center. Senior Shamia Brown and sophomore Cheyenne Parker combined to score 52 of HPU's 67 points.

“I think as a team we were disappointed by our performance,” head coach Jennifer Hoover said. “I thought we came out, were ready for the game and were excited about playing right after Thanksgiving. I thought we executed well early but Mercer was really hungry. That was a team desperate for a win and you can't give them confidence which I thought we did.”

Brown finished one-point shy of her season and career high with 28 points. The forward scored 12 of her 28 from the line shooting 12-19 on free throws. She also grabbed eight rebounds including five offensive boards. Parker picked up her third double-double in five games, scoring a career-high 24 points and grabbing a team-best 14 rebounds. The center shot 8-13 from the floor and 8-15 from the line on the night.

The Panthers shot just 31 percent (22-72) from the floor as a team in the game and were 0-3 from behind the arc. HPU was out rebound 52-44 but did force 26 Mercer turnovers in the contest. Briana Williams led all scorers in the game with 33 points for Mercer.

The loss by HPU drops the Panthers to 3-2 on the season and 2-1 at the Millis Center. Mercer improved to 1-5 on the season, breaking a five-game losing streak to start the season.

High Point connected on just five of its first 20 shots to start the game but still managed to hold a slim 14-9 lead midway through the first half thanks in large part to eight forced turnovers on the defensive end. Brown and Parker scored all 14 of HPU's points to start the game.

Williams single-handedly put the Bears into the lead with eight-straight points on a jumper and back-to-back three pointers to make the score 17-14 with a little over nine minutes remaining in the half.

High Point trailed by four, 23-19, when Brown scored six straight points to push the Panthers back into the lead by a score of 25-23 with three minutes remaining in the half. Brown scored four of the six from the line including one to finish off a three-point play after a layup and a foul.

Mercer would immediately respond with an 8-3 run over the closing minutes of the half to take a 31-28 lead into the locker room. High Point appeared to tie the game at the buzzer with a three by sophomore Taylor Wimbish but the shot was waived off by the officials after reviewing the play on the monitor.

Brown ended the half with 19 of High Point's 28 points as the team finished the opening 20 minutes shooting 9-38 (23.7 percent) from the floor. Williams led Mercer at the half with 14 points.

After trading baskets to start the second half, High Point used a 10-1 run to go up by six , 45-39 with 12:24 left in the game. Parker hit a hook shot in the lane to spark the run by HPU and scored six of the 10 points to help High Point take the lead.

Four-straight free throws by Brown and Parker pushed HPU's lead to nine, 52-43, with a little under nine minutes remaining but Mercer's Alicia Williams responded right back with five-straight points on a three and a jumper in the lane. The two buckets by Williams sparked a 22-2 run by the Bears which put Mercer up 65-54 with just over three minutes left in the game.

Back-to-back baskets by Parker and Erin Reynolds pulled High Point to within six at 65-59 with one minute remaining but Mercer went 8-10 from the line to close the game and seal the eight-point win.

High Point will wrap up its four-game home stand next Friday when the team will play the Pittsburgh Panthers out of the Big East at 7 p.m. High Point is 1-0 all-time against Pitt thanks to an 87-61 win in 1978.