HPU WBB Pulls Away Late For 79-64 Win At Coastal Carolina

• Sophomore Kaylah Keys led the way offensively with 19 points, including 15 in the first half. She has led the team in scoring in 8-of-12 games this season.
• Redshirt-senior Stacia Robertson posted her fifth double-double of the season with 17 points and 16 rebounds to go with six assists, three steals and two blocks.
• The win moves the Panthers to 3-0 in Big South play and is their eighth consecutive regular season conference win. It’s the longest streak since the team started 9-0 in 2011-2012.

CONWAY, S.C. – The High Point University women’s basketball team went on the road and earned a hard-fought 79-64 win over Coastal Carolina in the HTC Center on Tuesday night.

The Panthers (7-5, 3-0) led most of the way and built a 15-point lead with 14:20 to play, but the hard-charging Chanticleers (7-4, 1-1) wouldn’t go quietly and pulled within four with 6:43 to play. The Purple & White had the answer, though, and finished the game on a 13-2 run to pull away for the win.

“Coastal is a very good, balanced basketball team” head coach DeUnna Hendrix said afterwards. “I’m proud of the way our team stayed composed when the lead got down to four points. We really came up with stops when we needed it tonight.”

When the team got those stops, it was able to build a lead behind four players in double digits. Sophomore Kaylah Keys led the way for the eighth time this season with 19 points – including 15 in the first half. Redshirt-senior Stacia Robertson posted her fifth double-double of the season with 17 points and 16 rebounds to go with six assists, three steals and two blocks.

Sophomore Maja Michalska got her first start of the season and responded with a career-high 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point land. Senior Latrice Phelps chipped in with a season-high 18 points and four rebounds to give HPU four double-digit scorers in the contest.

HPU shot 48.6 percent from the floor – including 50 percent in the second half – while holding CCU to just 36.5 percent shooting. The Panthers outrebounded the Chanticleers 24-14 in the second half as the teams finished even with 41 rebounds apiece. The Purple & White also won the turnover battle 14-10 and assisted on half of its 32 made field goals in the game.

“She’s a senior leader that has played a lot of minutes in her career and manages the team well,” Hendrix said of having Ashante Richard back in the lineup for the first time in three games. “I think everyone else has more confidence when she is out there.”

The win is the team’s eighth consecutive regular season conference wins and gives HPU the best start since opening the 2011-2012 conference slate at 9-0.

The Chanticleers got on the board first, but Keys responded quickly with four points to give HPU the lead. Keys got by her defender again on the following possession and found Michalska alone on the left wing for a 3-pointer. The next trip Michalska drilled another triple to give the Panthers a 10-2 lead just two minutes into the game. Keys got a transition layup to make it a 12-0 run before CCU scored to make it 12-4 with 15:22 remaining in the first half.

After CCU managed to go on a 7-0 mini run, HPU responded with a run of its own to build a 24-13 lead with nine minutes remaining in the first half. However, the Chanticleers got hot from beyond the arc and cut the lead down to two at 30-28. But Phelps answered with a turnaround jumper and Keys nailed a transition jumper to take the lead back out to six (34-28, 3:11). CCU wouldn’t allow the Panthers to pull away, though, cutting the lead to three at 37-34 at the half.

As they did in the first half, the Panthers came out hot and stretched their lead out to 13 points behind eight quick points from Robertson (51-38, 14:20). From there, the lead grew to 15 points when Lindsay Puckett drilled a 3-pointer from the corner to make if 56-41 with just over 12 to play. CCU pulled back within four (66-62) on a banked-in 3-pointer by Stephanie Isaacs with 6:43 to play, but once again HPU had the answer and finished the game on a 13-2 run, featuring another key triple by Michalska, to pull away for the win.

The Panthers will continue conference play after New Years with another tough road game at Liberty on Jan. 3 at 4 p.m. The team will finally return home for the first time in nearly a month to host Campbell on Monday, Jan. 5 at 7 p.m.