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HIGH POINT, N.C. – The second-seeded High Point University women's lacrosse team opens the 2016 Big South Championship with a home quarterfinal contest vs. No. 7 Gardner-Webb on Saturday afternoon inside Vert Stadium.
 
First draw between the Panthers and Runnin' Bulldogs is scheduled for 3 p.m. The game will air live on the Big South Network, with live stats also available via highpointpanthers.com.
 
HISTORY IN THE BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT
HPU is 6-1 all-time in Big South Championship contests and has posted a 4-0 tournament record inside Vert Stadium. The Panthers will be looking for their third tournament title in the first four years of the conference in 2016. HPU won the crown in 2013 with victories over Longwood (17-7) and at Davidson (9-7) in the championship game. HPU swept three contests in Vert to claim the 2014 title, including another championship win over Davidson (11-6) to cap the event. Last season, HPU entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed and defeated No. 5 Longwood in the quarterfinals (14-9) before falling at top seed Winthrop (11-10) in the semis.
 
HISTORY AS THE NO. 2 SEED
HPU is 2-0 all-time in the Big South Championship as the No. 2 seed. The Panthers claimed the second seed in 2013 and claimed victories over Longwood and Davidson to win the championship.
 
HOME RECORD vs. LEAGUE FOES REMAINS UNBLEMISHED
HPU is 19-0 all-time vs. Big South opponents in Vert Stadium, including a 4-0 mark in 2016. The Panthers are 4-0 all-time at home in the Big South Tournament.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Panthers dropped a hard-fought, 14-13, contest at Winthrop on Sunday at Eagle Field. The Panthers and Eagles went back and forth all game long, most intensely during an extremely competitive second half that featured five lead changes. HPU held a 12-11 edge with 15:30 to go, but the Eagles scored three of the game's last four goals to earn the victory and claim the Big South regular season title.
 
The game was nearly even in the majority of statistical categories. Winthrop held slim edges in shots (27-26) and draw controls (15-14), while HPU held the edge in ground balls (17-16) and clear percentage (.933-.800). The difference came at the free position, where Winthrop executed on 4-of-9 attempts (.444) while HPU was 2-of-7 (.286).
 
Sophomore Erica Perrotta continued her strong play of late, notching four points on three goals and an assist. The Roseland, N.J., native also caused a team-high three turnovers and picked up three ground balls on the day.
 
Junior Samantha Brown chipped in four points on two goals and two assists, while senior Allie Foard added a hat trick and registered a ground ball in the contest.
 
Freshman Samantha Herman returned from injury to tally two goals and pick up a team-high four draw controls for HPU in the midfield. Defensively, junior Christina Del Sesto caused a turnover, registered three draw controls and picked up two ground balls in the contest.
 
PANTHERS CLAIM SCHOOL-RECORD EIGHT ALL-BIG SOUTH SELECTIONS
A school-record eight HPU student-athletes earned all-conference honors, as announced by the Big South Wednesday. HPU garnered five first team selections – the most of any program in the league. The quintet includes seniors Allie Foard, Emily Meier and Kristina Renner, junior Christina Del Sesto and sophomore Erica Perrotta. Senior Leah Pace and freshman Molly Andrews also were named to the All-Big South Second Team, while junior Samantha Brown garnered her second-straight Big South All-Academic Honor. HPU's eight all-conference honors mark the most by the program since seven student-athletes earned NLC All-Conference accolades in 2012.
 
BOSWELL NAMED BIG SOUTH COACH OF THE YEAR
Head coach Lyndsey Boswell claimed her second Big South Coach of the Year Award in three seasons Wednesday. She shares the 2016 honor with Winthrop's John Sung.  It's the third time in six seasons Boswell has earned a coach of the year award, as she also was named NLC Coach of the Year during the program's inaugural season in 2011. Boswell guided the Panthers to an 11-5 regular season record in 2016 and a stellar 7-1 record in Big South play.
 
HISTORY vs. GARDNER-WEBB
Gardner-Webb became a Division I program in 2015 and HPU has won both matchups between the teams since the program's inception. HPU won 18-2 in Boiling Springs last season and earned a 19-3 victory inside Vert Stadium this season on April 6.
 
Senior Allie Foard paced the Panthers with five points in the regular season matchup. The Severna Park, Md., native registered four goals and an assist while fellow senior Emily Meier tallied four points on two goals and two assists. Freshman Emory Gaeng matched Meier with a pair of goals and an assists, marking the first 4-point effort of her career.
 
A LOOK AT THE RUNNIN' BULLDOGS (4-12, 2-6)
Gardner-Webb finished seventh in the Big South after posting a 2-6 mark in league play. GWU is led by All-Big South second team selection Amanda Steinmuller, who has posted 32 points (28 goals) in the midfield for GWU this season. All-Big South honorable mention attack Alex Fusco has posted team highs in points (42) and goals (36). Freshman Emma Rufolo paces the Runnin' Bulldogs in draw controls (50) and tallied a team-high 24 caused turnovers. Sophomore goalie Cassidy McDowell has played a full 958:56 in the cage for GWU and posted a 16.08 goals against average and .415 save percentage during the regular season.
 
NEXT UP
With a quarterfinal victory, HPU would move on to face the winner of No. 3 Campbell/No. 6 Longwood in Big South semifinal action Thursday (May 5) in Rock Hill, S.C.
 
#GoHPU