• Sophomore Camryn Brown forced a jump ball in the final second as CSU’s Shauntavia Dobson went up for a potential game-winning fast break layup.
• Junior Emma Bockrath poured in 25 points on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc while adding six rebounds and four steals.
• The team’s seven road wins this season are the most since the 2013-14 campaign when the team went 9-6 on its opponents’ home floors.
CHARLESTON, S.C. – High Point women’s basketball junior Emma Bockrath poured in 25 points as sophomore Camryn Brown came up with a last-second steal to give HPU a dramatic 75-74 victory at Charleston Southern on Saturday afternoon.
Leading by a point, Brown missed a three-point attempt with the shot clock running down. CSU’s Shauntavia Dobson emerged from the ensuing scrum and had what appeared to be a fast break game-winning layup lined up before Brown swooped in causing a jump ball as the clock showed all zeroes. After review, the officials put less than a second on the clock and gave the alternating possession to the Panthers (13-6, 7-1) to run out the clock.
Bockrath was key throughout the game scoring a game-high 25 points, but was especially clutch in the final two minutes. With the Bucs (7-12, 2-6) leading 70-68 and just over two minutes to play, the guard drilled three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give HPU the 74-70 lead.
“That was an exciting game to say the least, certainly nerve-racking as a coach, but we got the win,” DeUnna Hendrix said of her 99th career head coaching victory. “Emma looked good in first half, so we tried to get her the ball a little more in the second half and she stepped up big for us. Any road win is a good and we’re definitely going to learn from the film, but we should feel confident because it’s hard to win on the road.”
From there, CSU scored twice and freshman Jiselle Thomas split a trip to the line to provide the final 75-74 margin.
The contest seesawed throughout the afternoon with several large runs for both teams, six lead changes and three ties.
Senior Kat Harris also knocked down key three-pointers in the second half finishing with 13 points off the bench. Joining Harris in double figures in reserve, Thomas earned 14 trips to the line and converted eight en route to a 12-point outing.
The HPU defense continued to cause havoc forcing 24 turnovers while scoring 36 off those CSU miscues. Those 24 turnovers were upped by 12 steals, three of which were credited to redshirt-junior Kennedy Currie.
Rounding out High Point’s four double-digit scorers, junior Shea Morgan recorded 11 points to go with eight boards. Despite not having her normal scoring output, Brown led the team with six assists compared to one turnover and the game-winning steal.
The Purple & White move to 7-4 on the road – the seven road wins are the most for the program since 2013-14. Similarly, the 7-1 start in Big South play is the best since the 2011-12 team opened league play 9-0.
Five different Panthers scored as HPU built a 12-0 advantage through the first five minutes of action. However, the Bucs responded with a 26-3 run over the next nine minutes to lead 26-15 with 6:08 until halftime.
Then, the game seesawed back in HPU’s favor as Thomas and Harris each tallied three points in the midst of a 10-0 run by the Panthers. That stretch put High Point back within one, 26-25, before a 7-0 spurt allowed the Bucs to hold onto a 34-28 halftime edge.
The second half started similar to the first as Bockrath hit a three-pointer to spark a 9-0 run that put HPU on top, 37-34 with just two minutes gone in the third period. After CSU surged right back into the lead at 38-37, Harris and Bockrath hit back-to-back three’s to put the Panthers back on top 43-40.
From there, the lead swelled to nine, 53-44, before CSU once again clawed to within one, 57-56, with 8:28 seconds left in the contest. But again Harris answered with a trifecta to give High Point a four-point lead, 60-56, with eight minutes to play.
The Panthers maintained that lead until a 7-0 spurt by the home team gave CSU a 70-68 edge with 2:46 to play. Bockrath took over from there canning two three-pointers in a 40-second span giving HPU a 74-70 lead.
For the final time, CSU battled back to within one, 75-74, and looked like it would have a chance to win, but was denied by Brown’s last second defensive heroics.
The Panthers return to the Millis Center on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. to take on Liberty in a battle to stay atop the Big South standings.