• Sophomore
Haleigh Hatfield pulled down a Big South Tournament record 23 rebounds while posting her second double-double in a row.
• Freshman
Camryn Brown drilled two fourth-quarter three's en route to an 11-point performance.
• Sophomore
Shea Morgan grabbed nine rebounds as High Point posted a 53-33 edge on the glass.
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LYNCHBURG, Va. – Despite 13 points and 23 rebounds from sophomore
Haleigh Hatfield, the High Point University women's basketball team fell 55-48 to Presbyterian in Friday's Big South quarterfinals at Liberty.
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The No. 3 seed Panthers (15-15) fell behind early and trailed the Blue Hose (13-17) by 10 at the break. In the second half, the Purple & White battled back to within five on two occassions, but couldn't pull even as Presbyterian earned a spot in Saturday's Big South Tournament semifinals.
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"I just hate that the season ended like this, especially for Kaylah Keys," head coach
DeUnna Hendrix said. "This year was a journey and thought it would be a different ending. The pace definitely wasn't in our favor and we just didn't hit the shots that we had in the half court either."
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Hatfield's 23 boards gave her HPU's first 20-rebound game since
Stacia Robertson in 2014 and are the most in a Big South Tournament game ever.
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Freshman
Camryn Brown gave the Panthers two double-digit scorers racking up 11 points on the strength of two clutch fourth-quarter three-pointers. Meanwhile, senior
Kaylah Keys wrapped up her record-setting career with eight points in the contest.
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"Kaylah has meant everything to our program," Hendrix continued. "Not just as a basketball player, but as a leader. Usually someone of her talent isn't as humble as she is and you don't have many leaders like that. As a leader and a person, it's going to be hard to find another
Kaylah Keys."
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On the inside, sophomore
Shea Morgan chipped in with six points and nine rebounds as HPU posted a 53-33 edge on the glass.
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In the end, the shots just didn't gall for the Purple & White as the squad shot 14-of-57 (24.6 percent). On the other end, Presbyterian hit 21-of-57 (36.8 percent) as both teams connected on six three-pointers on the night.
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Both teams shot under 30 percent in the first quarter as two early three-pointers by the Blue Hose allowed PC to build an 11-7 edge through one period.
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Despite seven points from Hatfield in the first nine minutes of the frame, the Blue Hose were able to build a 12-point lead, 33-21. However, Hatfield canned two more free throws and Edwards converted a steal into a layup to send HPU into the break down 33-25.
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Similar to the first quarter, both teams struggled to get traction on the offensive end as PC won the quarter 8-6 to take a 41-31 into the fourth.
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In the first four and a half minutes of the final frame, the Blue Hose were able to stretch their lead to 13, 47-34. Keys canned a trifecta at the 5:18 mark to cut it to 10. The Panthers earned a handful of open looks in the next three possessions, but just couldn't get the shots to fall as PC again gained a 12-point advantage, 49-37 with three minutes left.
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Brown then canned back-to-back long-range bombs to cut the deficit to six, 49-43, with 1:40 to play. However, the Purple & White couldn't pull any closer as PC earned a spot in the Big South semifinals against No. 7 UNC Asheville.
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#GoHPU
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