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HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women's basketball team heads north to Farmville, Va. to take on Longwood at 7 p.m. in Willett Hall on Tuesday.
 
Time is of the essence for the Panthers (8-15, 7-7) as they battle for a top-five seed and a bye in next month's Big South tournament. Meanwhile, the Lancers (6-18, 3-12) are looking to avoid a third straight bottom-two finish in the league.
 
Last Time Out
The Panthers jumped on the Runnin' Bulldogs early to take a 25-17 lead after the first quarter. However, GWU slowly battled its way back and closed the game on a 10-2 run to come away with a 79-72 win in the Millis Center.
 
Freshman Haleigh Hatfield had a breakout performance for HPU. The Winston-Salem, N.C. native hit six three-pointers and scored 24 points - both career highs. Meanwhile, junior Kaylah Keys posted 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the game and is averaging 19.0 points per contest over the last 10 days. In the post, senior Aariel Allen helped the Panthers earn a +1 rebounding edge (40-39) with eight boards to go along with seven points.
 
Youth Movement
• HPU's seven freshmen are logging 64 percent of the team's minutes and are scoring 58 percent of HPU points and grabbing 59 percent of the squad's steals this season.
 
• Freshman Haleigh Hatfield won Big South Player of the Week after averaging 15.0 points and 6.0 rebounds against Coastal Carolina and Gardner-Webb. She is the third HPU freshman to win the award this season joining Lindsey Edwards (Dec. 7) and Emma Bockrath (Jan. 18 and Feb. 1)
 
Keys' Climb
Junior Kaylah Keys is second in HPU's Division I history with 1,353 career points. She also sits at second in the program's history in made three-pointers with 174.
 
They're Free
The Panthers are the top free-throw shooting team in the Big South (.728). Junior Kaylah Keys, sophomore Kat Harris and freshmen Shea Morgan and Haleigh Hatfield are all hitting over 78 percent on the year.
 
A Look at the Lancers
• The Lancers were picked to finish ninth in the conference in the preseason and are currently sitting in last place, but just 0.5 games out of ninth.
 
• The squad has lost four straight games to fall to 6-18 overall and 3-12 in league play. However, in its last three home games Longwood has beat Winthrop and lost to Liberty and UNC Asheville by five and seven points, respectively.
 
• Redshirt-junior Daeisha Brown and senior Kyndal Skersick lead the team with 9.3 points per game apiece. Brown also paces the team with 1.5 steals per night while Skersick is hitting 36 percent of her three-point attempts.
 
• Sophomore Micaela Ellis has started a team-high 23 games and averages 2.7 assists per game at the point.
 
All-Time Series with Longwood
HPU owns a 21-11 lead in the all-time series against the Lancers. The Panthers also have a nine-game winning streak in the series while boasting a 7-0 record in Big South games.
 
Last Time They Met
Junior Kaylah Keys (26 points) and freshman Lindsey Edwards (18 points) paced the Purple & White to a 79-68 win over the Lancers on Dec. 1 at High Point.
 
Next Up
The Panthers are back home on Saturday to host Winthrop at 2 p.m. in the Millis Center. The game will be High Point's "Think Pink" contest.
 
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