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The High Point University women's basketball team used a suffocating defense and balanced scoring to pick up a 68-54 win over Charleston Southern on Saturday afternoon in the Millis Center. Senior Jurica Hargraves led HPU with 14 points as four Panther players finished in double figures in the win.

Less than two weeks after giving up 80 points to this same Charleston Southern squad, the HPU defense limited the Lady Buccaneers to just 54 points on 33.3 percent shooting. The Panthers forced 19 turnovers and held CSU to just four three-pointers in the game on 18 attempts. The 54 points allowed by High Point is the second fewest scored by the Lady Buccaneers this season.

“This was a great team effort defensively here today,” head coach Tooey Loy. “We gave up 80 points to this same team less than two weeks ago so to come out here and hold them to 54 today was a big accomplishment. Our great defensive play also let us get out in transition and that really helped our offensive game.”

With the win, HPU improves to 11-12 overall and moves into fourth place in the Big South with a 5-5 conference mark while Charleston Southern falls to 10-13 overall and 4-6 in the Big South.

High Point fell behind 6-0 to open the game but charged back with an 8-0 run of its own to take an 8-6 lead with 13:17 left in the first half. Four different players scored for High Point in the early spurt to move HPU out in front.

Charleston Southern briefly pulled ahead, 25-24, with 3:49 remaining in the half on a three pointer by Katie Tull, but sophomore Erin Reynolds responded with a layup on the other end and HPU closed the half with six-straight points to take a 30-25 lead into the locker rooms at the half.

Hargraves led HPU with eight points at the break while Reynolds, junior Shamia Brown and freshman Cheyenne Parker all finished the period with six points for the Panthers. Tull led CSU at the break with 12 of the Lady Buccaneers 25 points.

High Point opened the second half on an 8-2 run to push its lead into double digits at 38-27 with just under 16 minutes left in the game. Four different players scored for Panthers in the run, including senior Amy Dodd who kick started the burst with a mid-range jumper on HPU's first possession of the period.

Charleston Southern managed to pull to within seven, 51-44,on two Katie Tull free throws with 9:31 left in the game, but that would be as close as the Lady Buccaneers would get as High Point held CSU to just 10 points for the rest of the game to pick up the 68-54 win.

Brown, Parker and senior Mackenzie Maier each finished with 10 points to join Hargraves in double figures. Tull led all scorers on the day with 19 points for CSU.

Charleston Southern is off for a week before returning to action against UNC Asheville on the road on Saturday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m.

High Point next welcomes the Presbyterian College Blue Hose to the Millis Center on Monday, Feb. 14, at 7 p.m. High Point picked up a 56-41 win over PC earlier this season in Clinton, S.C., behind a balanced offensive attack that was led by Brown with a team-best 11 points. The Panthers have never lost to Presbyterian College in seven meetings between the two squads.