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The High Point University women's basketball team fell to Charleston Southern, 77-72, in a back-and-forth game in Charleston, S.C., on Saturday afternoon. Senior Shamia Brown led HPU with 25 points in the game.

“I thought we came out with a lot of energy and were on the attack early,” head coach Jennifer Hoover said. “They are a very good offensive basketball team. We need to figure out how to defend in one-on-one situations. We got after them defensively in the second half and created some offense but they were able to slow the game back down. We need to get back to everybody doing what they do best.”

Brown shot 10-14 from the floor and 5-6 from the line to lead the Panthers in scoring. The senior also pulled down six rebounds and had two steals in the loss.

Juniors Laura Whitt and Erin Reynolds also finished in double figures with 12 and 11 points respectively. Reynolds led HPU with four assists and three steals. Sophomore Cheyenne Parker led all players in the game with 13 rebounds.

LaKeitha Alston led CSU with 24 points in the game while Rachelle Coward had 20. Charleston Southern shot 5-8 (62.5 percent) from behind the arc in the second half after being held to just 4-12 (33.3 percent) in the first half.

The loss was High Point's fourth in a row and drops the Panthers to 14-10 overall and 9-4 in the Big South. Charleston Southern improves to 15-10 overall and 8-6 in the Big South.

HPU led by one, 57-56, with 6:44 left before a three from the corner by Shannon Sanders put CSU up by two. The Lady Buccaneers outscored High Point 21-15 down the stretch to pick up the win.

Both teams played well on the offensive end in the first half as High Point shot 14-30 (46.7 percent) in the opening 20 minutes and Charleston Southern shot 14-27 (51.9 percent). High Point led for most of the half with its largest lead coming at 16:53 when Lindsay Puckett connected on a three from the corner to put HPU up five, 12-7.  The Panthers took the lead for good in the half with 14:13 left on a jumper by Brown in the paint.

The High Point lead would swing between one and four points for the remainder of the half as the Lady Buccaneers were only able to get back to a tie score once in the opening period. The Panthers entered halftime leading by one, 34-33. Brown led all scorers in the first half with 14 points on 6-8 shooting. Alston led CSU with 12 points.

The Panthers opened the second half with a 9-2 run, putting HPU up 43-35 with 17:56 remaining after a layup in transition by Whitt. Reynolds began the half by forcing a steal near midcourt on CSU's first position and taking it to the basket for a layup and a foul. The junior converted the free throw for the three-point play.

Charleston Southern fought right back with five-straight points on a layup by Alston and a three by Sanders to trim the High Point lead to just three, 43-40.

The game featured 10 ties and seven lead changes as both teams struggled to take control of the game.

High Point wraps up its three-game road trip on Monday, Feb. 18, when the Panthers travel to Conway, S.C., to take on Coastal Carolina at 7 p.m. The Panthers picked up an 80-65 win over the Chanticleers in the two teams' first meeting. Reynolds led HPU with 25 points, 10 assists and nine steals while Parker finished with 14 points 22 rebounds and eight blocks.