• Redshirt-senior Stacia Robertson posted her third straight double-double with 19 points and a career-high 19 rebounds.
• Redshirt-senior Lindsay Puckett posted a season-high 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor.
• High Point will be back on the road on Thursday night at Presbyterian.
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women’s basketball team got huge performances from redshirt-seniors Stacia Robertson and Lindsay Puckett to earn a 77-63 win at Longwood on Monday.
Trailing 55-54 with less than eight minutes remaining, the Panthers (14-8, 10-3) hit nine of their final 11 shots while holding the Lancers (3-19, 3-10) to just 1-of-11 shooting as part of a 23-8 run to pull away for the victory.
“It was a great response,” head coach DeUnna Hendrix said of the team’s ability to run away with the win. “Our seniors decided we weren’t going to lose this one and came up big for us.”
Robertson, whom Hendrix called a beast tonight, led the Panthers with 19 points, 19 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks. It was her third straight double-double and her ninth of the season. Her 19 rebounds were a career high and her seven assists tied a career high.
Puckett scored a season-high 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting to go with five rebounds.
Latrice Phelps added 12 points to give HPU three double-digit scorers. The Purple & White are now 13-1 when it has at least three players scoring at least 10 points.
The three senior starters combined to score 53 of HPU’s 77 points (69 percent). Sophomore Kaylah Keys chipped in with nine points off of the bench as the Panthers earned an 18-10 advantage in bench points.
“It really helps to hit some threes, which opened up the offense on the inside, too,” Hendrix said of Puckett’s shooting outing. “She had the confidence today and she stepped up huge for us.”
Behind Robertson, the Purple & White earned a plus-16 (44-26) margin on the glass. The Lancers were hot from beyond the arc going 8-of-18 (44 percent), but the Panthers shot 16-of-22 (73 percent) in the second half and 29-of-57 (51 percent) overall.
Freshman Kat Harris scored six points and dished out four assists in her first career start as HPU posted 19 assists on its 29 made baskets.
Phelps won the opening tip and went in to score on the first possession to spark a 14-0 run in the first six minutes for HPU. Puckett led the offense with eight points in the run while the Purple & White defense held Longwood to 0-of-8 shooting.
Raven Williams snapped the drought for the Lancers with a steal and a layup, but Puckett pushed the lead back to 14 points with a jumper on the other end (16-2, 13:25).
Longwood scored 11 of the next 13 points to cut HPU’s lead to five at 18-13, before a put back from Robertson slowed the run (20-13, 9:10). However, transition layups by Williams and Kyndal Skersick pulled the Lancers within three before Skersick tied it with a 3-pointer (20-20, 7:05).
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Brenna Robbins and Autumn Childress extended Longwood’s elongated run to 29-10. The spurt allowed the Lancers to take a 29-24 lead with two minutes left in the half.
Puckett hit two free throws before Keys got three points the old fashion way to knot the score at 29-all with a minute left until the break. After a bucket by Longwood, Keys drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing to give the Panthers a 32-31 halftime lead.
The Purple & White got into the Lancers’ passing lanes and got out in transition to open the second half on a 6-0 run to take a 38-31 lead (18:35). But once again, Longwood responded, cutting its deficit to four points at 45-41 with 14:17 remaining in the contest.
Keys hit a layup before four free throws from Maja Michalska and Ashante Richard put HPU up by 10 points (51-41, 12:40). But Robbins hit her second 3-pointer to keep Longwood within striking distance at 51-44 with 12 minutes to play.
Two minutes later a 3-pointer by Williams cut the Panthers’ lead to six points (53-47). Skersick sliced further into HPU’s advantage with a pair of free throws at the 8:58 mark (53-49).
The Lancers continued their hot shooting with consecutive 3-pointers from Deborah Headen and Micaela Ellis to take a 55-54 lead at the 8:05 mark.
Robertson, then, took over and scored the next five points to help the Panthers regain the lead (59-57, 5:52). Her five points sparked a 14-2 run accentuated by a triple from Harris on the left wing to give HPU a 66-57 lead with four minutes remaining.
High Point then pulled away over the final four minutes thanks to six more points from Puckett to earn the 77-63 victory.
The Panthers will be back on the road on Thursday for a contest at Presbyterian at 7 p.m. The team will return home on Saturday to host Charleston Southern at 7 p.m.