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The High Point University women's basketball team rode an aggressive defensive effort to a 62-51 win over UMBC at the Hilton Garden Inn Hokie Classic on Wednesday night in Blacksburg, Va. The 51 points allowed by HPU matches the lowest allowed by the Panthers this season.

“We really wanted to focus on our defense coming off our games just before the holiday,” head coach Jennifer Hoover said. “We just got back to the basics of what we have been preaching since day one, it is all about defense and rebounding. I thought we did a good job of keeping our hands up and it was able to throw a team off that is normally very methodical on offense. We talked about playing defense for 30 seconds and I felt we were able to do that tonight.”

High Point held UMBC to just 34.9 percent shooting (22-63) in the game. The Panthers hassled the Retrievers into 18 turnovers and finished with seven steals and six blocked shots. HPU also limited UMBC to just 11 offensive rebounds on the night.

Senior Shamia Brown keyed High Point on the offensive end with 21 points and nine rebounds including six offensive boards. The forward scored eight of her 20 points on second-chance shots. Sophomore Cheyenne Parker picked up her seventh double-double of the season with 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. She also had five blocks on the night.

Juniors Erin Reynolds and Laura Whitt also finished in double figures for the game with Reynolds scoring 12 and Whitt matching her career high with 11, shooting 3-4 from behind the arc.

Michelle Kurowski led the Retrievers with 15 points. UMBC's leading scorer Erin Brown was held to just seven points but led the Retrievers with 14 rebounds.

The win by High Point ends a three-game slide by the Panthers and improves their record to 5-5 on the season. UMBC drops back to .500 at 6-6 with the loss.

Down three, 36-33, with just under 15 minutes remaining in the game, sophomore Lindsay Puckett connected on a three from the elbow to tie the game at 36-36, igniting a 14-4 run by High Point to go up by seven, 47-40, with 11:20 left in the game. Along with the initial three, Puckett twice found Whitt with cross-court passes for three pointers during the run.

High Point would not relinquish the lead the rest of the way, never allowing UMBC to get any closer than four at 55-51. HPU would score the final seven points of the game with five coming at the free-throw line to secure the 11-point win.

HPU opened the game with the first seven points as Reynolds scored with a jumper in traffic, Whitt connected on a three from the right baseline off a pass from Tayler Tremblay on a fast break and Parker scored down low with a layup. The High Point defense forced four turnovers in the opening three-plus minutes of action to help the Panthers take an early 7-0 lead.

Following a timeout by UMBC, the Retrievers scored five-straight points to close to within two at 7-5 with 15:32 left in the first half. Reynolds connected on two free throws to slow the surge by the Retrievers, but UMBC came right back with a jumper in the paint and a three from the right elbow to take a 10-9 lead.

HPU trailed by three, 17-14, with 8:23 left in the first half when a layup by Parker sparked an 11-0 run by the Panthers over the next 5:23. Parker and Brown combined to score all 11 points for High Point with Parker scoring four and Brown scoring seven. All seven points scored by Brown came on second-chance shots off offensive rebounds by the senior.

UMBC tied the game at 25-25 with back-to-back three pointers and a layup, but High Point closed the half with four-straight points by Brown on a layup and two free throws to take a 29-25 halftime lead.

Brown led all scorers with 13 points in the first half while Parker finished with seven points and game-high nine rebounds. Kurowski led UMBC in the opening 20 minutes with seven points.

UMBC trailed by six, 33-27, early in the second half when Kurowski converted a layup off an offensive rebound to start a 9-0 run by the Retrievers to go up by three, 36-33.

The Panthers outrebounded UMBC by five in the game, 45-40, grabbing 16 offensive rebounds which led to 17 second-chance points. High Point also got to the line 20 times compared to just five for the Retrievers, outscoring UMBC 14-2 from the charity stripe.

High Point advances on to the championship game of the Hilton Garden Inn Hokie Classic where they will play either host Virginia Tech or Cincinnati on Thursday, Dec. 29. HPU will play at either 5 p.m. or 7 p.m., depending on the winner of the game between the Hokies and Bearcats. The game will be High Point's fourth of the season against a BCS opponent, the most since the Panthers faced four in 2006-07.