HPU Women’s Basketball Comeback Falls Short In 84-76 Loss At East Tennessee State

• Redshirt-senior Stacia Robertson and sophomore DeAnneisha Jackson each had double-doubles for the Panthers.
• Robertson finished with a career-high 29 points and 13 rebounds while Jackson had a career-high 19 points and 11 rebounds
• High Point outscored East Tennessee State, 40-34, in the second half.

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Redshirt-senior Stacia Robertson and sophomore DeAnneisha Jackson each recorded double-doubles for the High Point University women’s basketball team but it wasn’t enough as the Panthers fell to East Tennessee State by a score of 84-76 on Monday night in Johnson City, Tennessee.

“I was really proud of our effort all game tonight,” head coach DeUnna Hendrix said. “Our kids are resilient. They have a lot of heart and a lot of fight. A couple things go differently in the first half tonight, we hit some free throws and limit their offensive boards and it’s a different outcome. Again I am really proud of our effort, we got better tonight.”

HPU trailed by as much as 20 in the first half and by 14 at halftime, but outscored East Tennessee State 40-34 in the second half, pulling to within four late in the contest.

Robertson finished with a career-high 29 points and 13 rebounds while Jackson had a career-high 19 points and 11 rebounds for HPU. The two combined to shoot 16-21 from the floor and 16-21 from the free throw line on the night. The double-doubles were the 15th in Robertson’s career and the fourth in Jackson’s

Shamauria Bridges led East Tennessee State with 22 points while Tianna Tarter posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

The Panthers shot 47.4 (27-57) percent from the field and just 11.1 percent (2-18) from behind the arc. High Point matched ETSU with 40 rebounds on the night but turned the ball over 19 times while forcing 15 Buccaneer turnovers.

High Point built an early 10-5 thanks in large part to back-to-back threes by sophomore Teddy Vincent. A three-pointer by Bridges sparked a 25-8 run by the Buccaneers as East Tennessee State built a 30-18 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the opening half.

Trailing by 20, 43-23, with 6:33 left in the opening period, High Point outscored ETSU 13-7 down the stretch to close to within 14 at the half. Senior Ashante Richard went coast-to-coast in the final four second for a buzzer-beating layup to make the score at the half 50-36.

The Panthers continued their strong play from the end of the first half at the start of the second, opening the period with a 13-6 run to close to within five at 56-51. Jackson and Robertson combined for 11 of the 13 points to start of the half.

East Tennessee State gradually rebuilt its lead back to 13 at 73-60 with five minutes to play. Destiny Mitchell and Bridges each had six points as the Buccaneers re-extended the lead.

The Panthers had one last run in them, outscoring ETSU, 12-3 to pull to within four at 76-72 with 1:28 to play. Robertson scored nine of the 12 points for High Point in the run.

HPU was unable to pull any closer on the night though as Bridges answered the Panther run with a three pointer and ETSU went 5-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to secure the 84-76 win.

The Panthers drop to 1-1 on the season while East Tennessee State moves to 2-0.

High Point continues its two-game road swing with a game at North Carolina State on Friday, Nov. 21. It will be the first meeting between the Panthers and NC State since the two teams met in the Women’s NIT in 2012. High Point fell to NC State by a score of 88-78 in that game, dropping to 1-4 all-time against the Wolfpack.