HPU Women’s Basketball Drops Heatbreaker to Charleston Southern, 64-62

• Junior Kaylah Keys paced the Panthers with 24 points to go along with a career-high seven steals.
• Freshman Shea Morgan scored nine points off the bench for HPU.
• High Point heads south to Gardner-Webb on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Charleston Southern used a late run to earn a 64-62 win over the High Point University women’s basketball team on Monday in the Millis Center.

The Panthers (3-10, 3-2) led 54-44 with 8:12 remaining in the game, but were outscored 20-8 by the Bucs (8-6, 3-2) the rest of the way.

Junior Kaylah Keys led the way for High Point with 24 points on 8-of-19 shooting. The Southaven, Miss. native racked up a career-high seven steals to go along with three assists. Altogether, the Purple & White tallied 10 steals and dished out 11 assists.

On the boards, freshman Haleigh Hatfield paced the Panthers with seven rebounds as CSU earned a 38-33 edge on the glass. Freshman Shea Morgan led the reserves with nine points off the Panthers’ bench while sophomore Kat Harris added seven points.

After HPU claimed a 5-0 behind early baskets from Keys and Harris, the Bucs outscored the home team 21-5 to build a 21-10 lead after a quarter.

Keys got it going in the second quarter scoring 10 points in the quarter as the Panthers fought to within two points at the break (31-29).

Morgan evened the score with a driving layup on the first possession of the second half (31-31, 9:43). From there, the teams traded baskets until junior Maja Michalska drilled a triple to give HPU a 40-38 edge with 5:15 left in the frame.

Keys, then, connected from beyond the arc with 30 seconds left in the third to spark a 10-0 to make it 54-44 with eight minutes remaining. However, the game turned as the Bucs outscored the Panthers 20-8 over the final eight minutes to come away with the victory.

The Panthers are back on the road on Saturday at Gardner-Webb at 2:00 p.m. in Boiling Springs, N.C.