HPU WBB Comes Back After Trailing by 18 to Defeat Charleston Southern in Overtime

• Senior Bria Gibson led the Panthers with 18 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
• Junior Camryn Brown nearly logged a triple-double with 18 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
• The Panthers out-scored the Buccaneers 42-8 in bench points.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women’s basketball team defeated Charleston Southern, 71-64, after trailing by 18 with 5:42 remaining in the third quarter.

High Point (12-6, 5-2) grabbed a season-high 60 rebounds, while Charleston Southern (5-13, 2-5) had 44 boards. This is the most rebounds by an HPU team since the Panthers grabbed 60 against North Carolina Wesleyan on Nov. 11, 2017. The Purple & White logged 14 assists and forced 24 Charleston Southern turnovers for the game.

The Panthers trailed Charleston Southern 23-41 with 5:42 left in the third quarter, but were able to cut the score to 38-51 going into the fourth quarter. HPU went on a 7-0 run to open the fourth quarter and cut the score to 45-51. Both teams traded baskets until the Panthers reeled off a 5-0 run to cut the Bucs’ lead to one at 55-56 with 36 seconds remaining. Two Breannah Bretches free throws pushed Charleston Southern’s lead back to three before Camryn Brown hit a three with 20 seconds remaining to tie the game and send it to overtime.

High Point opened overtime with an 11-4 run and never looked back. The Purple & White went 8-10 from the free throw line in the five minute extra period. High Point out-scored Charleston Southern 33-13 in the fourth quarter and overtime.

“I’m just now breathing,” head coach DeUnna Hendrix said. “I’m still trying to process exactly what happened, but I’ll say that I am super, super proud of our team. Yes I’m proud of the kids on the floor, but I’m also proud of our bench because it didn’t matter who was on it. It felt like it was live and genuinely happy the whole time for the players that were playing. I could say a lot, but I’m just really, really proud of today.”

Senior Bria Gibson led the Panthers with a career-high 18 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. Gibson tied her career-high in steals and blocks with three and two, respectively. She shot 7-11 from the field for the game. Junior Camryn Brown led the team and tied her career-high with nine assists. Brown pulled down a career-high nine rebounds and scored 18 points for the Panthers.

“We shot like we shot in the first half and I think I was shocked that we were shooting that poorly because that’s just not us,” Hendrix said. “I knew at some point the basket would open up and we’d settle in. I think going inside in the second half really, really helped.”

The Panthers out-scored the Buccaneers in the paint (28-24), off turnovers (20-17), in second chance points (19-7), in fast break points (10-6) and in bench points (42-8). Junior Miya Bull added nine points, nine rebounds and three steals off the bench for High Point. Senior Emma Bockrath recorded a season-high 11 rebounds and added five points and three steals for HPU.

Ke’Asia Jackson led Charleston Southern with 18 points and seven rebounds.

Up next, the Panthers will host Winthrop on Tuesday, Jan. 29. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. in the Millis Center.