Balanced attack sends HPU women’s basketball to 81-60 win over Longwood

• Freshman Camryn Brown equaled her career high with three three-pointers en route to a 13-point, five-assist night.
• Sophomore Shea Morgan matched her season high scoring 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting while grabbing four rebounds and handing out three assists.
• Twelve different Panthers pulled down at least one rebound as High Point posted a 48-29 margin on the glass.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women’s basketball team flexed its depth and balance on Monday night en route to a dominant 81-60 triumph over Longwood in the Mills Center.

Freshman Camryn Brown led four Panthers (14-14, 12-4) scoring in double figures with 13 while a dozen different members of the Purple & White garnered at least one rebound.

Senior Eboni Gilliam led the Lancers (4-24, 1-6) with 10 points and eight rebounds on the night.

“I’m really proud of the way our kids came in and approached this game and being able to get everyone on our roster in a game is always nice,” head coach DeUnna Hendrix said. “Everybody was ready when their number was called and I’m excited about our maturity and growth this season. The emphasis was to execute on the offensive end and really work on our game. So, to be able to get up and down in transition is fun to watch, but we also executed well in the half court, which is crucial this time of year.”

Sophomore Shea Morgan equaled her season high with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting while also tallying four boards and three assists. Similarly, senior Kaylah Keys and junior Kat Harris each racked up 12 points apiece in the win.

On the glass, HPU grabbed an impressive +19 margin (48-29) as sophomore Emma Bockrath paced the team with eight rebounds. Meanwhile, sophomore Haleigh Hatfield and redshirt-sophomore Kennedy Currie each pulled down six boards.

Offensively, High Point assisted on 20 of the team’s 28 field goals as the team hit 52 percent of its shots (28-of-54). Brown led the way dishing out five helpers while Keys added four for the third straight contest.

On the defensive side, the Panthers didn’t create their usual havoc forcing only seven turnovers, but instead held Longwood to 19-of-66 shooting (28.8 percent).

Overall, 11 different players scored for the home team as the squad tallied 34 bench points.

The win moves the Purple & White to the .500 mark for the first time since the team beat Brevard to improve to 1-1 back in November. The squad also hit eight more three-pointers to bring its season total to 188 and just five away from a new single-season program record.

The Lancers opened the scoring with a three-pointer from Khaila Hall, but HPU answered with a vengeance scoring the next 13 points. Harris sparked the run with five points while Morgan added four in the spurt.

However, a three-point play by Gilliam at the 3:13 mark pulled Longwood back to within seven, 13-6. But Currie hit a jumper and Brown and Hatfield sunk four free throws to give HPU a 19-10 edge through one quarter.

In the second frame, the HPU offense really started clicking drilling 4-of-5 three’s and racking up 27 points to build a 46-29 edge at halftime.

After the break, the Panthers continued to stretch out the lead as an 18-8 run allowed the HPU advantage to swell to 29 (66-37, 1:43). However, the Lancers responded with a 13-2 run to claw within 18 points, 68-50, with 6:29 to play.

But the Panthers’ freshmen Carol-Anne Obusek and Olivia VanSlooten combined for eight of the final 13 points to allow HPU to close out the 81-60 victory.

The Purple & White will wrap up the regular season on Saturday in the Millis Center against league-leading Radford.